Ukraine wants international investigation into mysterious crash
Published: Thursday, Jan 25th 2024, 16:00
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Ukraine is calling for an international investigation following the crash of a Russian military transport under mysterious circumstances. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in his video address on Wednesday evening.
The Ukrainian human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinez also made this demand on Thursday. Russia, for its part, announced a need for clarification without responding to the Ukrainian demand.
Even the day after the crash, there was no independent information about who or what the Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft was transporting. However, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, it was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were allegedly being flown to a planned prisoner exchange. Three guards and six crew members were also on board. Moscow accuses Ukraine of having shot down the plane over the Russian region of Belgorod near the border using Western anti-aircraft missiles. All people on board were killed. The incident occurred on Wednesday - 23 months after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
Ukraine has no evidence of prisoners on the plane
Lubinez said that the Ukrainian side had so far had no evidence of prisoners of war being transported on the plane. "We have not seen any signs that there were a large number of people on the plane - whether they were citizens of Ukraine or not," he said on television.
"It is obvious that the Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, with the feelings of their relatives and with the emotions of our society," said Selensky in his speech. He always cites the repatriation of thousands of Ukrainians from Russian captivity as a priority goal.
Russia, for its part, demands clarification
On the Russian side, the names of the crew on the Ilyushin were published on Thursday. The two flight recorders had been found intact and were being taken to be read out, the Tass agency reported, citing rescue workers. Rocket parts were also found.
"It has not yet been fully clarified what happened; the investigators only began examining the remains of the plane yesterday," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Kremlin head Vladimir Putin had been informed by the military. There will only be a reaction once open questions have been clarified. Regarding Zelenskyi's demands for an international investigation, Peskov said: "If he has an international investigation into the criminal actions of the Kiev regime in mind, then that is necessary."
Russian Duma deputy and defense politician Andrey Kartapolov rejected Kiev's claims that Russia had not been informed about the prisoner transport by plane. "The Ukrainian side has been officially informed," he said. However, Kiev's military intelligence service had not instructed the air defense to cease fire. This information could not be verified.
Kiev does not comment on possible launch
Unauthenticated images and videos on social media purporting to show the wreckage could indicate the impact of anti-aircraft weapons. However, they provide no evidence that there were many bodies at the crash site. Ukraine has not yet officially commented on a possible downing. Initial media reports about this were withdrawn after a short time. According to unconfirmed Ukrainian military sources, the plane was believed to have been carrying supplies for the Russian front. The Ukrainian secret service SBU launched an investigation into a suspected war crime.
Ukrainian Human Rights Ombudsman Lubinez emphasized that, according to the Geneva Convention, the country of residence bears full responsibility for the life and health of prisoners of war. "That is the Russian Federation," the ombudsman emphasized. Before the exchange, Moscow was obliged to inform the International Committee of the Red Cross about the prisoners' transportation route. He accused Moscow of a targeted and long-planned campaign to defame Ukraine.
Incident is used for propaganda
Experts from the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in Washington wrote that neither the Russian nor the Ukrainian claims could be independently verified. In their opinion, however, the Russian leadership is instrumentalizing the incident to sow mistrust in Ukrainian society against the government in Kiev. The exchange of prisoners of war is a sensitive issue for Ukrainians and Russians alike, which triggers emotions. In addition, Russian officials wanted to weaken the West's military support for the country with unproven claims that Ukraine had used German or US missiles for the alleged downing.
©Keystone/SDA
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