Prisoner swap did not take place, downing of Il-76 aircraft indicates deliberate and planned actions by Russia – Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence

In light of the Il-76 plane crash in Russia, Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence has reported that the prisoner exchange scheduled for 24 January did not take place. It has no information on whether there were Ukrainian prisoners on board the aircraft.

Source: Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence in a statement 

Quote: “A prisoner exchange was to have taken place today, but did not. According to the Russian side, this was as a result of the shooting down of a Russian Il-76 plane which was allegedly transporting our prisoners.

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We currently have no reliable and comprehensive information about who was on board the aircraft and in what numbers.”

Details: Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence emphasised that Ukraine had complied with all of the arrangements in preparation for the exchange. The captured Russian servicemen had been delivered on time to the agreed exchange location, where they were safe.

The safety of the Ukrainian soldiers, according to the agreements, should have been ensured by the Russian side. At the same time, the Ukrainian side had not been informed of the need to ensure the security of the airspace near Belgorod within a specific time frame, as has previously been done.

It should be noted that Ukraine had not been informed of the number of vehicles, routes, or ways in which the prisoners were to be delivered. Prisoners may be transported by air, rail and road.

Quote: “This could indicate that Russia took deliberate actions to endanger the prisoners’ lives and safety.

The landing of a transport aircraft in a 30-km combat zone cannot be safe and must be discussed by both parties, otherwise it jeopardises the entire exchange process.

Accordingly, we may be talking about planned and deliberate actions on the part of the Russian Federation to destabilise the situation in Ukraine and undermine international support for our country.”

Background:

• A Russian Il-76 aircraft crashed in the Korocha district of Russia’s Belgorod Oblast. Sources in the General Staff stated the plane was carrying S-300 anti-aircraft missiles.
• Following the downing of the Il-76, a number of Russian media outlets cited Andrei Kartapolov, Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Defence. He claimed that the plane contained dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war who were being transported for a prisoner swap. Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets stated that he was looking into the situation.
• Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence commented that a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine had been due to take place on Wednesday, 24 January.
• Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan published a list of the Ukrainian prisoners of war who she alleges were on board the Il-76 aircraft that crashed – but one of them is a soldier who had been swapped earlier.

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