The United Nations cannot determine whether there were Ukrainian prisoners of war on board the Il-76 aircraft.
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The Russian side claims that there were 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, six Russian crew members and three Russian military personnel on board. However, Kyiv stated that the plane could be transporting missiles for Russian installations. UN Deputy Secretary General Rosemary DiCarlo announced this on January 25 at a meeting of the UN Security Council.
She also noted that Ukraine called for an international investigation into the incident.
The UN cannot verify these reports or the circumstances of the disaster. “Obviously, the incident occurred in the context of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and war,” DiCarlo said.
Deputy Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Kristina Gayovyshyn said at a meeting of the UN Security Council that Ukraine was not informed about the transportation of its prisoners of war on this Il-76 aircraft. She also emphasized that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will continue to take measures to destroy delivery vehicles, as well as control airspace to eliminate the terrorist threat.
Let us remind you that on January 24, an Il-76 military transport plane crashed in the Belgorod region of Russia. Russia blamed Ukraine for the crash of the ship and stated that there were supposedly 65 prisoners, six crew members and three accompanying persons on the plane.
The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense stated that an exchange was indeed supposed to take place on January 24, but did not confirm the presence of Ukrainian prisoners of war on board the Il-76. This aircraft previously delivered missile weapons to the airfield in Engels and Belgorod. Intelligence does not rule out the possibility that the Russian Federation could use Ukrainian prisoners of war, in fact, as human shields for transporting ammunition and weapons for missile systems.
Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets said that some Ukrainians from the list named by Russian propaganda had already been exchanged earlier.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.