Ukraine’s SBU security service on Thursday started a criminal investigation into the downing of a Russian military plane that Moscow claims killed 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Kyiv has not said whether captured Ukrainian soldiers were killed or if it was engaged in Wednesday’s shooting down of a military transport plane over Russia’s western Belgorod region, near the Ukrainian border.
“The security service of Ukraine has opened a criminal investigation into the downing of an IL-76 Russian Air Force plane in the Belgorod region”, the press office of the SBU announced.
“The SBU is currently taking a range of measures to clarify all the circumstances of the downing”, the statement outlined.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked for an international probe into the tragedy.
Kyiv confirmed that a prisoner exchange was scheduled for Wednesday at the border between the two countries, but said Moscow had not informed them that any POWs would be transported by plane.
Ukraine has also neither verified nor refuted Russia’s central assertion that it shot down the plane, killing scores of Ukrainian soldiers on board.
The SBU stated that their criminal investigation was looking at violations of the laws and customs of war.
Zelensky cautioned on Thursday that Ukraine’s ability to investigate the incident would be limited because it occurred on Russian territory.
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