MOSCOW, Jan 25, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Russia on Wednesday accused Ukraine of
shooting down a military transport plane carrying dozens of Ukrainian
detainees headed for a prisoner exchange, killing everyone on board.

Kyiv confirmed a prisoner swap was due to occur Wednesday, but several hours
after the crash said it still had no reliable information on the passengers,
as President Volodymyr Zelensky called for an international investigation.

Videos on social media showed a large plane in Russia's western Belgorod
region falling from the sky on its side before crashing in a fireball.

Russia's defence ministry said the IL-76 plane was carrying 65 Ukrainian
soldiers captured in Russia's offensive, as well as six crew and three
escorts.

It claimed Ukrainian forces stationed in the Kharkiv border region had fired
two missiles at the transport aircraft and described the incident as a
"terrorist act".

"We currently do not have reliable or comprehensive information on who was on
board the plane or in what number," Ukraine's main intelligence agency said
in a statement.

Zelensky, in an evening address, did not confirm or deny Moscow's
accusations, but stressed that Russia was "playing with the lives of
Ukrainian prisoners, with the feelings of their relatives and with the
emotions of our society."

"We need to establish all clear facts, as much as possible given that the
plane crash occurred on Russian territory -- beyond our control," he said.

- UN Security Council meeting -

Around the time Zelensky called for an international investigation, the UN
Security Council agreed to meet Thursday at 5:00 pm (2200 GMT) to discuss
Moscow's accusations regarding the plane.

AFP could not independently verify the Russian claims but the incident would
represent one of the single most deadly episodes of the full-scale conflict
in weeks.

Russia's defence ministry said the crash had come hours ahead of the planned
prisoner exchange at a border crossing in Belgorod.

"The Ukrainian leadership was well aware that, in accordance with established
practice, the Ukrainian servicemen to be exchanged would be transported by
military transport aircraft to the Belgorod aerodrome today," it said.

Ukraine's intelligence agency denied this and accused Russia of "endangering
the lives and safety of prisoners".

- Muted reaction in Kyiv -

Ukrainian media initially cited defence sources saying Ukraine's army had
downed the plane, and that it was carrying missiles. The claim was later
retracted.

In a carefully worded statement published after the crash, the Ukrainian army
said it would continue to target Russian aircraft in Belgorod region.

It said a number of shelling attacks on Ukrainian territory were "directly
related" to Russian military transport aircraft flying to Belgorod airfield.

The crash occurred in Korochansky district, northeast of the Belgorod
region's capital at around 0800 GMT, governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

He added that the aircraft was downed in a field and the area had been closed
off while investigators and emergency services worked at the scene.

"The plane crashed far away from the village. It was very loud and very
scary," said Maria Mexentseva, a resident of nearby Yablonovo.

"We just heard a loud rumble," she told the RIA-Novosti news agency. "There
was already smoke, fire and rumbling."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the crash, saying news
was still emerging and that authorities would "look into" the incident.

The head of Russian-state broadcaster RT published a list of captured
Ukrainian servicemen allegedly on board.

Ukrainian civilian casualties of the war ticked up on Wednesday, with two
people, including a 16-year-old, killed and nine wounded when a Russian
rocket hit Girnyk village in the eastern Donetsk region, Donetsk regional
head Vadim Filachkine said, accusing Moscow of targeting civilians.

A strike in the southern city of Kherson wounded six people, local officials
said.

- POWs sensitive issue -

The issue of prisoners of war is sensitive in both countries.

Despite full-scale hostilities, the two sides have carried out 49 prisoner
exchanges since the conflict began almost two years ago.

Kyiv says more than 8,000 Ukrainians remain in Russian captivity, including
civilians.

In 2022, Russia and Ukraine accused each other of carrying out deadly
bombardments on a jail holding dozens of captured Ukrainian servicemen in
Kremlin-controlled Olenivka, in Ukraine's Donetsk region.

Since Moscow launched large-scale hostilities in Ukraine in February 2022,
several Russian military aircraft have crashed, and Ukraine has also claimed
to have shot down Russian war planes.

In Russia, the plane carrying Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin
crashed last August on a flight from Moscow to St Petersburg.

Moscow denied involvement, claiming instead that the plane crashed because
its passengers detonated a grenade on board.