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Russia accuses Ukraine of shooting down plane carrying Ukraine prisoners of war, Ukraine accuses Russia – JURIST

Russia accused Ukraine of deliberately shooting down a Russian Military Transport plane Wednesday carrying 65 Ukrainian Military personnel for an alleged “pre-agreed exchange” of prisoners of war. The incident reportedly killed 74, including six crew members and 3 Russian officers.The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement condemning the shooting down of a Russian military transport aircraft, II-76, near the village of Yablonovo in the Belgorod region on Wednesday. The Ministry accused Ukraine of intentionally targeting the plane with anti-aircraft missiles from the area of Liptsy in the Kharkiv region. The statement goes on to alleged that Ukraine is under a “neo-Nazi dictatorship” nurtured by the United States and NATO.Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov held a Press Conference in which he addressed questions about the incident. He added:Speaking about the downed Il-76 military transport plane and Ukraine’s motivations for the terrorist attack, we are establishing the facts now … As I said, we have received this information just now, and we are in the process of verifying it. This is also why we propose holding a UN Security Council [UNSC] meeting today so that Ukrainian delegates can explain what happened.President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia for the incident, stating:The Main Intelligence Directorate is clarifying the fate of all captives. The Security Service of Ukraine is investigating all the circumstances. I have instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to provide our partners with the information available to Ukraine. Our state will insist on an international investigation.A UN Security Council meeting on the incident was held on Thursday. Rosemary A. DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, stated, “The United Nations is not in a position to verify [the] reports or the circumstances of the crash.” The Security Council reiterated the need for an international investigation, transparency, diplomatic efforts and adherence to international law to address the challenges in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, acknowledging deep divisions among Council members.