Russia, Ukraine argue at UN Security Council over plane crash

The meeting took place at Moscow's request after the Russian Defense Ministry accused the Ukrainian military of shooting down the IL-76 and confirmed that all 74 people on board were killed, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were about to be exchanged with Kyiv.

The location believed by Russian investigators to be where the IL-76 plane crashed in Belgorod province (Russia) on January 24.

Speaking at the meeting, Russia's Deputy Ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy said that the Ukrainian leadership "knows very well the route and the way the soldiers will be transported to the exchange location." Mr. Polyanskiy stressed that this was not the first prisoner exchange between the two sides, but this time Kyiv "for some inexplicable reason decided to sabotage the exchange procedure and carry it out in the most brutal way possible."

In response, Ukraine's Deputy Ambassador to the UN Khrystyna Hayovyshyn rejected the accusations, saying Kyiv was not informed about the number of vehicles, routes and means of transporting the prisoners. "This alone could constitute a deliberate act by Russia to endanger the lives and safety of the prisoners," Ms. Hayovyshyn stressed.

Russia warned Ukraine before plane carrying prisoners was shot down

Ms. Hayovyshyn also affirmed that the Russian prisoners in the exchange were transferred to the agreed location. "The Russian side should have guaranteed the same level of safety for the captured Ukrainian servicemen," Ms. Hayovyshyn said.

Asked whether the prisoner exchange would continue after the IL-76 crash, Andrey Usov, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate, said Kyiv wanted to continue it. Andrey Kartapolov, the chairman of the Defense Committee of the Russian State Duma's lower house of parliament, also stressed that Moscow would continue its efforts to ensure the release of Russians held by Ukraine, according to TASS news agency.

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