Ukraine says it has intelligence suggesting only five bodies were delivered from the crash site of a Russian military transport plane to a nearby morgue, a Ukraine military intelligence official told CNN, casting doubt on Moscow’s claim that dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in the explosion.
Moscow and Kyiv gave conflicting accounts of how the Ilyushin Il-76 was downed Wednesday in Russia’s Belgorod region, which neighbors eastern Ukraine. Moscow says the plane was transporting Ukrainian prisoners of war, while Kyiv says it was carrying Russian missiles to be used in further strikes on Ukraine.
But the latest comments indicate Kyiv’s growing confidence that the IL-76 plane, which crashed Wednesday morning in the village of Yablonovo in Russia’s Belgorod region, may not have been carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war ahead of an exchange, as Moscow claimed.
Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (DI), told CNN the number of bodies brought to the morgue matched the number of crew members on the plane. “No other bodies were detected,” he said.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
But the latest comments indicate Kyiv’s growing confidence that the IL-76 plane, which crashed Wednesday morning in the village of Yablonovo in Russia’s Belgorod region, may not have been carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war ahead of an exchange, as Moscow claimed.
“A set of investigative actions is being carried out to identify persons from among the armed formations of Ukraine involved in committing this terrorist act,” the committee added in a Telegram post.
The Russian Investigative Committee also released new video from the crash site, which shows the charred earth and remnants of the plane, but no human remains appear to be visible in the footage.
Yusov’s comments, which cast doubt on the account given by Moscow, echo similar remarks made overnight into Thursday by Mykola Oleschuk, commander of the Ukrainian air force.
The government communications body also urged for an international investigation into the incident, saying “there is no evidence that any Ukrainian citizens were killed on board” and that “Russian official statements cannot be trusted.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Thursday it is too soon to talk about instructions from Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the military plane crash as an investigation is still underway.
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