A crash and many uncertainties. A Russian transport plane crashed in the Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine, on Wednesday January 24. Russian authorities say 74 occupants of the plane were killed, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners who were on board for a detainee exchange.
Russian investigators say they found documents identifying Ukrainian prisoners at the crash site. Moscow accuses Ukraine of having shot down the plane, but kyiv has confirmed neither the shooting nor the presence of Ukrainian prisoners on board. Franceinfo takes stock of what we know about this crash.
The plane crashed near the border
The Russian Defense Ministry announced Wednesday, in a press release broadcast on Telegram, that an Il-76 transport plane had crashed at 11:15 a.m. (9:15 a.m. in Paris) in the Belgorod region. The plane took off from the Chkalovsky military airport, northeast of Moscow, and was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners who were to be exchanged with Russian military personnel. “at the Kolotilovka checkpoint on the Russian-Ukrainian border”, specifies the text. A crew of six people and three Russian soldiers were also on board and were killed, according to Moscow.
Images presented as those of the crash, verified by the New York Times, show the fall of a plane, which then crashed in Yablonovo, about 40 km northeast of Belgorod. Russia’s official Tass news agency also released a video showing debris littering a snow-covered field.
For several weeks, the Russian region of Belgorod has been the scene of frequent Ukrainian missile and drone strikes. At the end of December, its capital was the target of a strike killing 25 people, the deadliest against civilians on Russian soil since the launch of Moscow’s offensive against Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, the bombings have continued. are increasing in response to those of Moscow’s forces in Ukraine, undermining the Kremlin’s discourse according to which the daily lives of Russians are not disrupted by the conflict.
Moscow says it has evidence of prisoners on board
Two days after the crash, the Russian news agency Ria Novosti reported that the Russian Investigative Committee found documents attributed to Ukrainian prisoners at the scene. “There are documents of Ukrainian servicemen who died in the disaster, confirming their identity, as well as accompanying documents from the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia,” quotes the agency.
On Telegram, the Russian Investigative Committee also claims that fragments of the victims’ bodies are being examined and that on “certain parts of the victims’ bodies, characteristic tattoos [de soldats ukrainiens] “Similar symbols were recorded on the bodies of many members of Ukrainian armed formations, including the Azov battalion, previously questioned in connection with criminal cases”, supports the commission of inquiry.
On Telegram, kyiv acknowledged that a prisoner exchange was planned on the day of the crash, but did not confirm the presence of Ukrainian soldiers on board the crashed plane. Ukraine’s human rights commissioner says Russia is in any case “security officer” detainees, according to the Geneva Convention. He called on the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross to go “inspect the premises” of the crash.
The Russian Defense Ministry responded that Ukrainian leaders were “fully aware that, in accordance with established practice, Ukrainian servicemen were to be transported today by military transport aircraft to the Belgorod airfield for exchange.”
Moscow accuses kyiv of shooting down the plane
The Russian Defense Ministry accused kyiv of shooting down the plane from Lyptsi in the Kharkiv region. “All the information we have today shows that we are dealing with a premeditated and well-thought-out crime”, declared Russian deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy. In a statement to the Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, Russian MP and former general Andrei V. Kartapolov also claimed that the plane was shot down by three Ukrainian missiles, without providing proof.
Subsequently, Russia announced the opening of an investigation for “terrorism”. “Witnesses to the incident are being questioned”, said the Russian investigative committee responsible for the investigations on Thursday. According to Russian state agency Ria Novosti, Russian investigators recovered two black boxes among the debris.
“The intelligence services of the Ukrainian army knew that we were transporting 65 servicemen [ukrainiens] on board. They shot him, by mistake or on purpose, but they did it.”supported Vladimir Putin during a public intervention on Friday.
kyiv blames Moscow
Ukrainian officials have not confirmed that they shot down the plane, but the Ukrainian military has said it wants to continue “destroy delivery vehicles and control airspace in order to eliminate the terrorist threat, including in the Belgorod-Kharkiv area.”
Ukrainian special services have opened an investigation “carried out under article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine [violation des lois et coutumes de la guerre]“, specified the Ukrainian special services. However, any Ukrainian field investigation seems difficult, as the device is on Russian territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also called for an international investigation. “It is obvious that the Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, with the feelings of their parents and the emotions of our society”he justified.