‘Propaganda, provocation’: Did Ukraine down a plane with its POWs aboard?
Al Jazeera
Confusion abounds days after a Russian military jet crashed near the Ukrainian border, reportedly killing dozens of people.
Kyiv, Ukraine – Two days after a Russian military cargo plane was shot down near the Ukrainian border, unanswered questions loom as Moscow and Kyiv offer starkly conflicting versions – and insufficient proof.
Moscow claimed the Il-76, with 65 Ukrainian war prisoners on board, was about to land in the western city of Belgorod on Wednesday in advance of a swap later that day.
It purported that Ukrainian air defence forces in the nearby Kharkiv region shot the plane down with two missiles.
Russian lawmaker Andrey Kartapolov claimed three missiles were shot either from a US-made Patriot air defence complex or from a German-made Iris T system.
“Ukrainian leaders knew very well about the swap, were informed how they prisoners would be delivered, but the Il-76 plane was shot down by three missiles,” he reportedly said.
