Published On: Sat, Jan 27th, 2024

Putin says US or French missiles were used to shoot down Ukrainian POW plane | World | News


Vladimir Putin has claimed the downing of a plane containing Ukrainian prisoners of war was done with missiles from “the US or France.”

Moscow accused Ukraine of downing the aircraft, which reportedly had 65 Ukrainian PoWs at the time.

The Ilyushin Il-76 plane crashed in Russia‘s Belgorod region, an area close to the Ukrainian border which has experienced multiple missile strikes in recent months.

Ukraine has not confirmed or denied whether it shot down the plane.

But Kyiv has challenged Moscow’s version of what happened, including details of who was on the plane.

Putin said it is “not yet clear” where the missile is from but an investigation will be carried out, bringing a verdict in “two or three days.”

Video of the crash on social media from the Belgorod border region of Russia showed a plane falling from the sky in a snowy, rural area, and a huge ball of fire erupting where it apparently hit the ground.

Throughout the 700-day war, Russia and Ukraine have traded conflicting accusations, and establishing the facts has often been difficult, both because of the constraints of a war zone and because each side tightly controls information.

READ MORE: Russia ‘faked deaths of 65 prisoners in propaganda stunt plane crash’

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the Il-76 transport plane was carrying 65 POWs, a crew of six and three Russian servicemen. Russian radar registered the launch of two missiles from Ukraine’s Kharkiv region that borders Belgorod, a statement said.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. “We’ve seen the reports, but we’re not in any position to confirm them.”

Separately, a US official said it was not clear that there were actually Ukrainian POWs aboard the aircraft that crashed. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that haven’t been announced publicly.

Hours after the crash, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine made no mention of the crash in a statement. But it added that Ukraine targets Russian military transport planes believed to be delivering missiles, especially near the border.

Russia lost two warplanes and two helicopters in its own airspace in one day in May 2023. Kyiv officials initially denied involvement, but later said they had used Patriot missiles to hit the aircraft.

The Kharkiv and Belgorod regions have long been a focus of the fighting between the neighbors, including airstrikes with missiles and drones.



Source link