Russian President Vladimir Putin accuses Ukraine of likely using foreign missiles to shoot down the Russian military plane that crashed on Wednesday.
Preliminary results suggested that the missiles that hit the plane were American or French, Putin said today in St. Petersburg. The military aircraft was shot down by Ukrainian air defense – intentionally or accidentally.
The results of the Russian investigation would be published within two or three days. According to Russian information, there were 74 people on board, all of whom died in the accident in the Belgorod border region – most of whom were Ukrainian soldiers on their way to a prisoner exchange. Ukraine calls for an international investigation into the incident.
Published videos
At the same time, the Russian Investigative Committee published videos with images of dead bodies and a plane. Footage released today in Moscow shows investigators in a debris field zipping up a body bag and also showing tattoos on parts of the body. Ukrainian documents from alleged prisoners of war can also be seen. Another video shows a plane with transporters heading towards it. According to authorities, this proves that Ukrainian prisoners of war boarded the plane before it was shot down.
The videos could not be independently verified. It is likely that Russia wants to refute Ukraine's doubts that there were indeed prisoners of war on board the Ilyushin when it crashed last Wednesday.