Just over two years have passed since the beginning of the Russian War in Ukraine. Just as the day of invasion, the war is still raging. A plane disaster recently killed dozens of people.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on January 24 that a Ukrainian transport jet had been shot down. Officials have confirmed that the plane was transporting 65 Ukrainian POWs to the Belgorod region. The plan all along was to trade the captives for Russian soldiers at that location. The Il-76 plane also had three escorts and six Russian crew members.
The jet went down in a field close to a residential neighborhood, killing all on board, according to Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod.
Ukrainian authorities were allegedly “well aware” that the prisoners of war were to be flown to the airstrip for the exchange, according to the Russian ministry. Kremlin authorities continued by saying that “committing this terrorist act” revealed “its true face” on the part of Ukraine. The government had “disregarded the lives of its own citizens,” according to the ministry, which was even worse.
There have been numerous such military exchanges throughout the war. The scheduled event for that afternoon was to take place at a border checkpoint.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine has reportedly accused Russia of “playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners,” according to the BBC. The crash, he insisted, needed an investigation on a global scale. According to Ukraine’s military intelligence (GUR), Russia neglected to remind the country to ensure the safety of its airspace, unlike in prior encounters. Moscow may have had a “planned and deliberate” hand in the tragedy, according to the GUR.
In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the plane downing a “monstrous act” and emphasized the critical necessity for an international probe into the criminal activities of Kyiv.
The names of those on board are yet unknown.
