A Russian transport plane crashed yesterday, Wednesday, under unclear circumstances in Belgorod.
Russia claims that Ukraine shot down the plane. Ukraine has not confirmed, but also not denied the information.
Russia also claims that the plane was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, all of whom died in the crash.
Major General (Ep.) and Member of Parliament (Co.) Pekka Toveri emphasizes that it would be easy for Russia to prove its claims to be true. It could invite accident investigators to the crash site and let them examine what’s there.
– The Russians have not presented any evidence to support their claims, only claims. That’s why I’m suspicious, Toveri tells by phone.
Russia: The plane was shot down by a Patriot or IRIS missile
According to the official message of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane had taken off from the Chkalovsky air base in the Moscow region, and Ukrainian anti-aircraft missiles shot down the plane near the Russian-Ukrainian border in Yablonovo.
The animation below shows the route the Russian Ministry of Defense claims the plane flew.
Russia also claims that the plane was brought down by either a US Patriot or a German IRIS missile.
Pekka Toveri points out that Russia would have a good motive to claim that the downing of the plane was the fault of the Ukrainians.
– This is a message to Western supporters of Ukraine that Ukrainians are irresponsible. That is, when the West gives Ukraine long-range weapons, the Ukrainians are irresponsible and cause unnecessary deaths, says Toveri.
Ukraine apparently used long-range missiles last week when it shot down a Russian A-50 radar and IL-22 command post in the Sea of Azov. Comrade considers these to be significant and hard-to-replace equipment losses for Russia.
Ukraine has confirmed its intentions to exchange prisoners
Ukrainian media reported immediately after the accident that Ukraine had shot down the plane, but that the plane’s cargo had been S-300 anti-aircraft missiles. Later, the Ukrainian newspaper corrected that the news had not been confirmed.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army confirmed during Wednesday that an exchange of prisoners had been agreed with Russia. It didn’t materialize.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi accused Russia of playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners of war in his daily speech to Ukrainians.
See in the video below how Zelenskyi commented on the fall of the Russian plane.
For example the BBC has interpreted these messages to mean that Ukraine indirectly admits to shooting down the plane.
“Russia would be responsible for the death of the prisoners”
The comrade believes that the statements may be due to the uncertainty caused by the situation. He emphasizes that if Ukraine had shot down Ukrainian prisoners of war, the responsibility would still lie with Russia.
– The Geneva international agreements clearly state that the state that takes prisoners of war is responsible for their physical security.
According to Ukraine, Russia has previously announced the transport of prisoners of war in advance, but yesterday, Wednesday, no announcement was made.
– If Russia has carried out such a transport without announcing it, taking a great risk for both its own aircraft crew and prisoners of war, then it is a completely irresponsible action, Toveri says.
A list of names has been published in Russia, which are claimed to tell the names of the prisoners of war who were on the plane. At least one of the Ukrainians on the list had already been released before. Ukraine has emphasized that it does not know who was on the plane.
There are no confirmed pictures of the accident scene
International news agencies have not transmitted a picture of the place where the plane fell.
A friend has seen a video circulating on social media where the place of the fall is allegedly visible. According to him, there are not many bodies visible, but there is also no missile debris.
– The plane could have been empty, because all you could see in the field was scrap and a few bodies of the pilot. Know him.
Based on the video, Finnish and Russian experts following the war in Ukraine have estimated that the plane’s flight direction would have been away from Belgorod. If so, it would fit in poorly with Russia’s claims that the plane was transporting prisoners to Belgorod.
The comrade repeats that it would be easy for Russia to publish the evidence from the accident site.
– It doesn’t do it because there is nothing to prove. Most likely, it was not a prisoner transport, so Russia has no evidence to share.
Ukraine has announced that it has launched a criminal investigation into the accident, and it is also demanding an international investigation into the matter. Ukraine has also said that it is requesting an international investigation from the UN and the Red Cross.
Sources: AFP, AP, Reuters