INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russia accused Ukraine on Wednesday of deliberately shooting down a Russian military transport plane carrying 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers
to a prisoner exchange in what it called a barbaric act of terrorism that had killed a total of 74 people.Ukraine called for full
clarification of the circumstances of the incident and did not directly confirm it had shot down the plane.Ukrainian President Volodymyr
been on the Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane shot down near the Russian city of Belgorod near the Ukrainian border.After a long
pause, the Ukrainian military said it would continue to destroy Russian military transport aircraft it believed were carrying missiles with
which to strike Ukraine.It said it had noticed more Russian military transport aircraft landing in Belgorod, something it linked to Russian
missile strikes on Kharkiv and other Ukrainian cities.Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk accused Russia of trying to undermine
said.The Russian defence ministry said the exchange was to have taken place on Wednesday afternoon at the Kolotilovka border checkpoint and
the Ukrainian leadership has showed its true face
said the meeting would be held at 5 p.m
be talking about planned and deliberate actions by Russia to destabilise the situation in Ukraine and weaken international support for our
prisoner swap had been planned for Wednesday and said the captured Russian servicemen had been delivered to the agreed exchange point on
added.Video footage posted on Telegram by Baza, a channel linked to Russian security services, and verified by Reuters, showed a large
aircraft falling to the ground near the village of Yablonovo in Belgorod region and exploding in a fireball.Andrei Kartapolov, a member of
to turn around.Kartapolov, who has close links to the Russian defence ministry, said the plane had been downed by three missiles of either
or German manufacture.Reuters could not immediately verify details of who was on board the downed plane, but Moscow and Kyiv have regularly
borders Ukraine, has come under frequent attack from Ukraine in recent months, including a December missile strike which killed 25
people.Source: Reuters-Agencies
