Current:Home > InvestRussia’s Putin blames Ukraine for crash of POW’s plane and pledges to make investigation public -MarketPoint
Russia’s Putin blames Ukraine for crash of POW’s plane and pledges to make investigation public
View
Date:2025-04-25 18:18:38
Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged Friday to make public the findings of Moscow’s investigation into the crash of a transport plane that he alleged Kyiv’s forces shot down despite having been informed that Ukrainian prisoners of war were on board.
In his first public remarks on Wednesday’s crash, Putin repeated previous comments by Russian officials that “everything was planned” for a prisoner exchange that day when the IL-76 military transport went down in a rural area of Russia’s Belgorod region with 65 Ukrainian POWs on board.
“Knowing (the POWs were aboard), they attacked this plane. I don’t know whether they did it on purpose or by mistake, through thoughtlessness,” Putin said of Ukraine at a meeting with students.
Authorities in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said all 74 people on the plane, including six crew members and three Russian servicemen, were killed when the aircraft crashed in a huge ball of flames.
Putin offered no details to support the allegation that Ukraine was to blame, which other Russian officials have also made. Ukrainian officials have not said whether their military shot down the plane, but they called for an international investigation. Independent verification of Moscow’s claim was not possible.
Both sides in Russia’s 23-month-long war in Ukraine have often used accusations to sway opinion at home and abroad. Wednesday’s crash triggered a spate of claims and counterclaims, but neither of the warring countries offered evidence for its accusations.
Ukrainian officials confirmed that a prisoner exchange was due to happen Wednesday but said it was called off. They cast doubt on whether POWs were on the IL-76 and put forward their own theories about what happened.
They also implied that the plane may have posed a threat. They said Moscow did not ask for any specific airspace to be kept safe for a certain length of time, as it has for past prisoner exchanges.
Mykola Oleshchuk, Ukraine’s air force commander, described Moscow’s claims as “rampant Russian propaganda.”
Putin said the plane’s flight recorders had been found and Russian investigators’ findings will be published.
“There are black boxes, everything will now be collected and shown,” Putin said. “I will ask the investigative committee to make public, to the maximum extent possible, all the circumstances of this crime — so that people in Ukraine know what really happened.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has requested an international investigation.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
veryGood! (32)
Related
- How to watch new prequel series 'Dexter: Original Sin': Premiere date, cast, streaming
- COP26 Presented Forests as a Climate Solution, But May Not Be Able to Keep Them Standing
- Two Indicators: The 2% inflation target
- Bridgerton Unveils First Look at Penelope and Colin’s Glow Up in “Scandalous” Season 3
- Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
- How Dying Forests and a Swedish Teenager Helped Revive Germany’s Clean Energy Revolution
- Days of Our Lives Actor Cody Longo's Cause of Death Revealed
- If You're a Very Busy Person, These Time-Saving Items From Amazon Will Make Your Life Easier
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Want a balanced federal budget? It'll cost you.
Ranking
- The White House is cracking down on overdraft fees
- COP26 Presented Forests as a Climate Solution, But May Not Be Able to Keep Them Standing
- Inside Clean Energy: At a Critical Moment, the Coronavirus Threatens to Bring Offshore Wind to a Halt
- A big bank's big mistake, explained
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- Two U.S. Oil Companies Join Their European Counterparts in Making Net-Zero Pledges
- Inside Clean Energy: 6 Things Michael Moore’s ‘Planet of the Humans’ Gets Wrong
- Can you use the phone or take a shower during a thunderstorm? These are the lightning safety tips to know.
Recommendation
New Mexico governor seeks funding to recycle fracking water, expand preschool, treat mental health
Kim Kardashian Reacts to Pregnant Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker’s Baby News
These Bathroom Organizers Are So Chic, You'd Never Guess They Were From Amazon
BP’s Net-Zero Pledge: A Sign of a Growing Divide Between European and U.S. Oil Companies? Or Another Marketing Ploy?
Could your smelly farts help science?
New York orders Trump companies to pay $1.6M for tax fraud
Kate Spade's Massive Extra 40% Off Sale Has a $248 Tote Bag for $82 & More Amazing Deals
Bindi Irwin Shares How She Honors Her Late Dad Steve Irwin Every Day