Russia speaks out about the downing of the Ukrainian prisoner plane

According to CNN, in a carefully worded statement, the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said that recent attacks on the city of Kharkiv, just 30km from Russia, were being supported by Russian cargo planes bringing weapons closer to the border.

"The intensity of shelling is directly related to the recent increase in the number of military transport aircraft heading towards the Belgorod airport. With this in mind, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will continue to take measures to destroy transport vehicles and control the airspace to eliminate terrorist threats, including in the direction of Belgorod and Kharkiv," the statement said.

The Ukrainian Military Intelligence Service also just issued a statement saying that they have no reliable information about the people on board the Russian transport plane that was shot down in the Belgorod region, close to the Ukrainian border.

According to the agency, Ukraine has implemented all the agreements on the prisoner exchange that took place on January 24, but "Russia must ensure the safety of Ukrainian servicemen in accordance with the agreements reached." And that Kiev is not required to ensure the safety of the airspace near the city of Belgorod at the agreed time.

The statement of the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Service also said that Russia had taken deliberate actions aimed at threatening the lives and safety of prisoners of war.

Russia has requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to discuss the incident, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced at a press conference in New York on the afternoon of January 24.

At around 11am local time on January 24, a Russian heavy military transport plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war and nine others crashed in the Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine. The governor of Belgorod said that no one on board survived.