Ukraine would pass on the facts ascertained from its own investigation to its overseas partners and push for them to commit resources to a joint international effort to establish what caused Wednesday's crash of the Ilyushin-67 jet, killing all 74 aboard, Zelensky said in his nightly address.
From the reports from the chiefs of defense, military, intelligence and security, it was "clear that the Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners of war, the feelings of their relatives and the emotions of our society," Zelensky said.
"All facts must be established. As far as possible, given that the aircraft crashed in Russian territory, that is beyond our control.
"Our state will insist on an international investigation."
Both sides are blaming the other for the crash in a field in the Belgorod region of southern Russia, which borders Ukraine.
A statement from Ukraine's military intelligence, or GUR, said that, unlike previous instances, Russia failed to notify it to ensure safe airspace.
GUR insisted there was no proof POWs were aboard and alleged "planned and deliberate actions by Russia."
Ukraine's General Staff also said the aircraft was carrying S-300 anti-aircraft missiles.
Russia's Defense Ministry said the aircraft was deliberately hit by a Ukrainian air force anti-aircraft missile launched near the village of Lyptsi, about nine miles inside Ukraine, in hopes Russia would be blamed.
Ukraine also repeated warnings the crash was likely part of a mounting Russian misinformation campaign aimed at damaging Ukraine's standing and eroding international support.
The Ukrainian group Media Initiative for Human Rights said that while the facts remained unclear, it found cracks in Moscow's "prompt and coordinated" response, which it said was "very strange and unusual" and pointed to problems with the list of POWs who supposedly perished in the crash.
"But at the moment, all this is very circumstantial evidence, insufficient to draw conclusions. We are working and will definitely conduct our own investigation," the group's communications director, Olha Reshetylova, said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said any international investigation should focus on "the criminal actions of the Kyiv regime."
Asked whether the prisoner swap would still proceed, Peskov said, "No one can tell how this will affect the prospects of the continuation" of the prisoner swap, but asserted that it "should be held in absolute silence."
In Washington, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told a press briefing Wednesday the administration was aware of the crash but was unable to independently confirm it.
"We're obviously doing the best we can to try to get more clarity and more information on it," he said.
Related Links
Aerospace News at SpaceMart.com
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
