A crash and many uncertainties. On Wednesday, January 24, a Russian transport plane crashed in the Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine. According to Russian authorities, 74 people on the plane died, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners who were on board for a prisoner exchange.
Russian investigators said they found documents identifying Ukrainian prisoners at the crash site. Moscow accuses Ukraine of shooting down the plane, but Kiev has not confirmed the downing or 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 on Wednesday in a press release broadcast on Telegram that an Il-76 transport plane crashed in the Belgorod region at 11:15 a.m. (9:15 a.m. in Paris). The plane took off from 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,” the text said. According to Moscow, there were also a six-man crew and three Russian soldiers on board who were killed.
Images presented as such of the crash and confirmed by The New York Times show the crash of a plane then crashing in Jablonovo, about 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Belgorod. The official Russian news agency Tass also released a video showing debris lying in a snow-covered field.
The Russian region of Belgorod has been the scene of frequent Ukrainian missile and drone attacks for several weeks. In late December, the capital was the target of an attack that killed 25 people, the deadliest against civilians on Russian soil since Moscow's offensive against Ukraine began in February 2022. Bombings have continued since then. In response, they are increasing the number of Moscow forces in Ukraine, undermining the Kremlin's discourse that Russians' daily lives will not be disrupted by the conflict.
Moscow says it has evidence of prisoners on board
Two days after the crash, Russian news agency Ria Novosti reported that the Russian Investigative Committee had found documents attributed to Ukrainian prisoners at the scene of the accident. “There are documents of the Ukrainian soldiers who died in the disaster confirming their identities, as well as accompanying documents from the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia,” the agency quotes.
On Telegram, the Russian Investigative Committee also claims that fragments of the victims' bodies are being examined and that distinctive tattoos can be found on “certain parts of the victims' bodies.” [de soldats ukrainiens] “Similar symbols were found on the bodies of many members of Ukrainian armed formations, including the Azov Battalion, who were previously interrogated in connection with criminal cases,” the Investigative Committee claims.
On Telegram, Kiev confirmed 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 said Russia was in any case “responsible for the safety” of detainees under the Geneva Convention. He called on the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to “inspect the site of the crash.”
The Russian Defense Ministry responded that Ukrainian leaders were “fully aware that, in accordance with current practice, Ukrainian soldiers should be transported by military transport aircraft to Belgorod airfield for exchange today.”
Moscow accuses Kiev of shooting down the plane
The Russian Defense Ministry accused Kiev of shooting down the Lyptsi plane in the Kharkiv region. “All the information we have today shows that we are dealing with a premeditated and well-thought-out crime,” said Russian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky. In a statement to the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, Russian lawmaker and former general Andrei V. Kartapolov also claimed that the plane was shot down by three Ukrainian missiles, without providing any evidence.
Russia then announced it would open a “terrorism” investigation. “Witnesses to the incident are being questioned,” the Russian investigative committee in charge of the investigation said on Thursday. According to the Russian state agency Ria Novosti, Russian investigators have recovered two black boxes from under the rubble.
“The intelligence services of the Ukrainian army knew that we were transporting 65 soldiers [ukrainiens] on board. They shot him, accidentally or on purpose, but they did it,” Vladimir Putin said in a public speech on Friday.
Kiev blames Moscow
Ukrainian officials have not confirmed the downing of the plane, but the Ukrainian army has assured that it continues to “destroy the delivery vehicles and control the airspace to eliminate the terrorist threat, including in the Belgorod-Kharkiv area.”
The Ukrainian special services opened an investigation “in accordance with Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.” [violation des lois et coutumes de la guerre]”, the Ukrainian special services specified. However, an on-site investigation in Ukraine seems difficult since the device is located 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 with the emotions of our society,” he reasoned.