Fragments of what appears to be a missile were found at the crash site of the Russian Il-76 military plane, in the Korochansky district of the Belgorod region, on the border with Ukraine. This was reported by the Russian news agency Tass, citing emergency services sources. The Russian Defense Minister accused the Ukrainian armed forces of firing missiles at the plane from the Kharkov region. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called for an international investigation.
The SBU, the Ukrainian secret service agency, opened an investigation to determine the cause of the crash of the military plane, reported the website Ukrainska Pravda, recalling that, according to sources in the Ukrainian General Staff, the plane was carrying missiles for the S- defense system. 300. According to the chairman of the Duma Defense Committee, Andrei Kartapolov, there were 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war on board who were being transported for exchange.
Once again, accusations were mixed between Moscow and Kiev, shifting responsibility for the disaster, as has happened many times in this war. An analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) highlights that Russian politicians are taking advantage of the case to try to weaken Western military support for Ukraine and sow discontent within it. The US think tank highlights that the chairman of the Duma Defense Committee, Andrei Kartapolov, called for prisoner of war exchanges – a sensitive issue in Ukraine – to be suspended indefinitely, while the vice-chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev attributed the plane crash to “political infighting” in Kiev. Furthermore, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called a meeting of the United Nations Security Council and accused Ukraine of terrorism. “Such Russian accusations are aimed, in part, at sowing discontent in Ukraine and increasing distrust in the Ukrainian government, which is consistent with many other Russian propaganda efforts aimed at weakening Ukraine internally,” Isw said, according to which the allegations about German and US missiles are “probably an attempt to discourage Western partners from providing Ukraine with the necessary air defense systems.”
Source: IL Tempo
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
