UN Security Council Meeting on Russian Il-76 Military Plane Crash

The emergency meeting of the UN Security Council requested by Moscow discusses the downing of the Il-76 transport plane of the Russian air forces, which resulted in the deaths of 65 Ukrainian prisoners who were being transported as part of a prisoner swap. Also aboard the plane were nine others who accounted for the crew and accompanying persons.

"At about 11:00 Moscow time [08:00 GMT], an Il-76 plane crashed in the Belgorod region during a scheduled flight. There were 65 captured servicemen of the Ukraine armed forces on board, transported to the Belgorod region for exchange, six crew members of the aircraft and three accompanying persons. A Russian air forces commission flew to the crash site to establish the causes of the disaster," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian media reported that an Il-76 from the Russian Aerospace Forces was shot down near Belgorod by the Ukrainian armed forces. After the Russian Defense Ministry revealed Ukrainian POWs were onboard and being transported for a prisoner exchange, Ukrainian media shifted their news coverage and deleted information regarding the Ukrainian military being responsible for the plane's destruction.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia’s lower house, instructed lawmakers to prepare an appeal to the US Congress and Germany’s Bundestag in connection with the plane crash in order to show foreign parliamentarians for what purposes Kiev is using their military assistance, as he believes the Ukrainian military shot down the plane.

© Sputnik