Amid rising tensions, Russia accused Ukraine of allegedly shooting down a Russian Military Transport plane carrying Ukrainian Military personnel intended for a ‘pre-agreed exchange’ of prisoners-of-war on Wednesday. This incident is reported to have caused 74 fatalities, which included among them six crew members along with three Russian officers.
In response to the incident, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement to express their condemnation of the shooting down of its II-76 military transport aircraft near the village of Yablonovo in the Belgorod region. Russia has pointed fingers at Ukraine, accusing it of intentionally targeting the aircraft through anti-aircraft missiles deployed from the Liptsy area in the Kharkiv region. In addition—a somewhat sensational claim coming from the ministry—they professed that Ukraine is currently under a “neo-Nazi dictatorship” that is allegedly supported by both the United States and NATO.
The foreign minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, hosted a press conference where he addressed queries 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.”
In a sharp counter-accusation, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy laid the blame on Russia for the incident. In his statement, he declared, “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.”
In the aftermath of the incident, a UN Security Council meeting was held on Thursday with the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary A. DiCarlo, expressing that the United Nations was unable to confirm the reports or underlying circumstances of the crash. The meeting underscored the need for transparency, an international investigation, rigorous diplomatic efforts, and adhesion to international law to tackle the long-standing conflict in Ukraine. The council concluded its session acknowledging extensive division among its members.