Displaying items by tag: downed aircraft

On 31 January, Russia and Ukraine conducted a prisoner exchange. Russia claimed that each side received 195 soldiers, but Volodymyr Zelensky said that 207 Ukrainian soldiers had been returned. This was the 50th exchange since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the first such swap since the recent plane crash which Russia claimed had 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war on board. There are continuing doubts in Kyiv regarding this assertion, especially because no photographs have been released showing dozens of dead bodies. Both sides have called for an international investigation, and the details of the incident remain unverified. In another development, the International Court of Justice has ruled that Russia violated terrorism and anti-discrimination treaties: see

Russia has accused Ukraine of shooting down a military transport plane carrying 74 people, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, on a flight to Belgorod in southern Russia, where a prisoner exchange was planned. However, the exact details and the cause of the crash (on 24 January) remain unverified by independent sources. The ongoing conflict, now nearing its two-year mark, has been marked by mutual accusations and disputes. The Russian defence ministry stated that the Ilyushin Il-76 plane was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile system, leading to the deaths of six crew members, 65 Ukrainian military personnel, and three Russian military personnel accompanying them. In response, Ukraine's military acknowledged the planned prisoner exchange, but said they lacked reliable information about the plane's passengers. They asserted that they had fulfilled their obligations and ensured the safety of captured Russian servicemen who were supposed to be part of the exchange.