Russia claims Ukraine shot down a military transport plane in Belgorod, killing 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war on board.

Ukraine has opened a criminal investigation into the shooting down of a Russian military transport plane that Moscow said killed 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, as the Kremlin raised questions about future prisoner exchanges.

On Thursday, the Kremlin said no one could say how the crash of the Russian Air Force IL-76 aircraft in the Belgorod region shortly after the Ukrainian president’s death would affect the prisoner exchange Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of “playing with the lives” of prisoners.

Ukraine has not said whether its captured soldiers were killed in Wednesday’s downing of the plane or whether it was involved.

Initiating the investigation, the SBU security service said on Thursday that it was “currently taking a number of measures to clarify all the circumstances surrounding the shoot down.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the incident as a “monstrous act.”

“Nobody can tell you how this would affect the prospects for an extension [exchange] Process,” he was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

Russia has blamed Ukraine On Wednesday, the plane carrying 65 prisoners of war, six Russian crew members and three Russian soldiers was said to have been deliberately shot down on its way to Belgorod, near the border with Ukraine.

Although Zelensky neither confirmed nor denied Russia’s claims in his Wednesday address, he said it had been a “very difficult day.” He also called for an international investigation.

“We have to establish all the clear facts. As much as possible, considering that the downing of the plane took place on Russian territory, which is beyond our control,” he said.

Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Kiev, said: “Determining the truth has been complicated by the secrecy surrounding the highly sensitive exchange of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners.”

Russian claims

A video posted on Telegram by Baza, a channel linked to Russian security services, showed a large plane crashing and exploding in a huge fireball.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the plane was hit on its way from Moscow to Belgorod. Located 40 km (25 miles) north of the border with Ukraine, Belgorod was targeted in recent weeks by Ukrainian air strikes.

The ministry claimed, without providing evidence, that radars had registered the launch of two Ukrainian missiles.

The RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing Russian rescue services, that both flight recorders had been recovered from the plane.

Ukrainian counterclaims

Russia’s claims were immediately treated with deep suspicion by Ukraine, accusing it of running long-running disinformation campaigns, McBride said.

“Officially, Ukraine says it has no evidence that its prisoners of war were on board the aircraft, but a military intelligence statement suggested that Russia was responsible for their safety if they were on board,” he added.

“Kiev also accused Moscow of not informing it about the transport arrangements [the] “Prisoner exchange and for flying prisoners of war so close to an active war zone,” McBride reported.

Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence had confirmed that an exchange was to take place, but said it had not been informed how Russia would get the prisoners to the transfer point and said Ukraine had not been asked to ensure airspace security around Belgorod.

“On this basis, we may be talking about planned and deliberate actions by Russia to destabilize the situation in Ukraine and weaken international support for our state,” GUR said in a statement on Telegram.

Prisoner exchange

This month Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in the largest single release of prisoners since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.

Ukrainian officials said 230 of their prisoners had been released, while Russia said 248 of its soldiers had been returned following mediation by the United Arab Emirates.

While the two sides conducted several swaps during the war, the swaps stalled in the second half of last year. The latest exchange was the first in nearly five months.

According to Interfax, Russian lawmaker Andrei Kartapolov on Thursday watered down the Kremlin’s statement on the prisoner swap, saying Russia would “even talk to the devil” to bring back its captured soldiers.