A senior Russian lawmaker said Ukrainian military intelligence had been given a 15-minute warning before a Russian military transport plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war entered an area where it was shot down on Wednesday (January 24), killing all on board, Reuters reports.
Moscow accuses Kyiv of downing the Ilyushin Il-76 plane in Russia's Belgorod region, killing 74 people on board, including 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers en route to be swapped for Russian PoWs.
Russia's Investigative Committee said on Thursday (January 25) the plane was struck by a Ukrainian-made surface-to-air missile.
Ukraine denied that it was given a warning. It has neither confirmed nor denied that its forces downed the plane but has challenged details of Moscow's account and called for an international investigation.
Conflicting narratives from both sides are a daily feature of a war now nearing the end of its second year. In this case the stakes are especially high, as it is the deadliest incident of its kind on internationally recognized Russian territory since Russia's February 2022 invasion.
The United Nations Security Council met on Thursday at the request of Russia to discuss the downed plane. The U.N. was not in a position to verify the circumstances of the crash, U.N. political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the council.
"What is clear is that the incident took place in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and ongoing war," she said. "To avoid further escalation, we urge all concerned to refrain from actions, rhetoric, or allegations that could further fuel the already dangerous conflict."
Ukraine said it had opened its own investigation into a potential violation of the rules of war.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that greater clarity was needed, particularly when it came to who was on board, and he accused Russia of "playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners."
Russia has sole access to the site of the crash, where TV pictures showed debris scattered over snowy fields. TASS state news agency said the plane's flight recorders had been recovered and would be flown to Moscow for examination.
