Intelligence officers said the prisoner exchange would take place on Wednesday, and responded to Russian claims that they were “flying in an Il-76.”
The Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine states that on Wednesday, January 24, an exchange of prisoners should take place. However, this did not happen. GUR reports this on its Facebook page.
“According to the Russian side, this happened as a result of the downing of a Russian Il-76 aircraft, which was said to be transporting our prisoners,” the intelligence officials said.
The Main Director emphasized that Ukraine today “does not have reliable and comprehensive information about who exactly was on the plane and in what quantity.”
“Ukraine was not informed about the number of vehicles, routes and methods of delivery of prisoners. It is known that the delivery of prisoners occurs both by air transport, and by rail and road.
This may indicate deliberate actions by Russia aimed at creating a threat to the lives and safety of prisoners,” said GUR.
They also drew attention to the fact that “landing aircraft in a 30-kilometer combat zone is not safe.” In addition, the intelligence officials added that the issue “in any case must be discussed by both sides, because otherwise the entire exchange process will be jeopardized.”
Intelligence officials assume that these are “planned and deliberate actions of the Russian Federation with the aim of destabilizing the situation in Ukraine and weakening international support for our state.”
We remind you that an Il-76 military transport plane crashed in the Belgorod region. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that on board the plane were 65 alleged prisoners of the Ukrainian Armed Forces brought to the Belgorod region for exchange, six crew members and three accompanying persons.
Ukrainian media reported that the Il-76 was carrying missiles for the S-300 complexes.
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War urged not to spread fake news and said it is now collecting information about this incident.
Source: korrespondent
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