There was no official affirmation on who downed the aircraft, however Russia accuses Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine are locked in a dispute concerning the our bodies of individuals killed within the crash of a Russian navy transport aircraft who Moscow says have been Ukrainian prisoners of warfare.
A Ukrainian intelligence official stated in televised remarks late on Thursday that Kyiv has urged Moscow at hand over the our bodies of these killed within the January 24 crash, which Russia has blamed on Ukraine. He stated Moscow has refused.
Andrii Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s navy intelligence, reiterated Kyiv’s call for an international investigation into the crash over the Russian area of Belgorod to find out whether or not the cargo aircraft carried weapons or passengers together with the crew.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov advised the state RIA Novosti information company on Friday that the Kremlin hadn’t obtained a Ukrainian request at hand over the our bodies.
Russia wouldn’t solely welcome but in addition “insist” on a global inquiry into the aircraft’s downing, Putin said this week as he described the crash as a “crime” by Ukraine.
Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied that its forces downed the Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft that Russia says was carrying 65 Ukrainian POWs. Russia’s declare concerning the prisoners couldn’t be independently verified.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, its primary state felony investigation company, stated the aircraft was introduced down by the US-made Patriot missile defence system, which Western allies have provided to Kyiv for the war against Russia.
The committee stated it has recovered 116 fragments of two missiles that have been fired from a Patriot system close to the village of Lyptsi in Ukraine’s Kharkiv area, which sits on the opposite aspect of the border from Belgorod. It had a video that purported to indicate some missile fragments mendacity within the snow with markings stated to show their origin.
It additionally stated it has recognized all of the crash victims.
Russian officers stated there have been 74 folks on board – 65 Ukrainian POWs, six crew members and three Russian servicemen – all of whom have been killed.
Regardless of the crash, the 2 nations completed a prisoner exchange on Wednesday, every swapping 195 POWs.
The warfare between Russia and Ukraine, which is nearing its two-year mark, continues to rage, with Russia finishing up long-range strikes on Ukraine with missiles and drones.
Ukraine on Thursday stated it used sea drones to attack and destroy a Russian warship within the Black Sea close to the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
In Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown, a drone strike broken an vitality facility, leaving 100,000 recipients with out electrical energy and 113 coal miners stranded underground in two mines. Oleksandr Vilkul, the pinnacle of the central metropolis’s defence council, stated all of the miners have been delivered to security after energy was partially restored.