Russia comments on the downing of a plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners.
The Ukrainian military command stated that they considered the Russian military aircraft approaching Belgorod to be a legitimate target, but denied shooting down the Russian transport plane that crashed in the Belgorod region.
According to CNN, in a cautiously worded statement, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said that recent attacks on the city of Kharkiv, just 30km from Russia, are being supported by Russian cargo planes delivering weapons near the border.
The statement read: "The intensity of shelling is directly related to the recent increase in the number of military transport aircraft heading towards Belgorod airport. With this in mind, the Ukrainian armed forces will continue to take measures to destroy transport vehicles and control airspace to eliminate terrorist threats, including those in the direction of Belgorod and Kharkiv."
The Ukrainian military intelligence agency also issued a statement saying that they have no reliable information about the people on board the Russian transport plane shot down in the Belgorod region, near the Ukrainian border.
According to this agency, Ukraine fulfilled all agreements regarding the prisoner exchange that took place on January 24, but "Russia must guarantee the safety of Ukrainian servicemen in accordance with the agreements reached." Furthermore, Kyiv was not required to guarantee the safety of the airspace near the city of Belgorod within the agreed timeframe.
The statement from the Ukrainian military intelligence agency also claimed that Russia was deliberately taking actions aimed at threatening the lives and safety of prisoners.
Russia has requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the incident, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced at a press conference in New York on the afternoon of January 24.
At approximately 11:00 AM local time on January 24th, a heavy Russian military transport plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners and 9 other people crashed in the Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine. The governor of Belgorod stated that no one on board survived.
