Ukraine seeks investigation of mystery plane crash after ‘dubious’ Russia claims

Ukraine has demanded an international investigation into the downing of a Russian plane that Moscow claimed was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war (PoWs), with concerns that the truth may never be known.

Russia claimed that the Il-76 military transport plane that crashed in Belgorod close to Ukraine’s northern border on Wednesday was shot down by Ukraine while carrying 65 prisoners, as well as three guards and six crew members, all of whom were killed.

Kyiv has not confirmed or denied that Ukrainians were on the plane. But analysts have raised doubts about Russia’s version of events, such as the whereabouts of bodies, suspicious documents presented after the crash, and Moscow’s previous lack of transparency over plane crashes.

Ukraine has not confirmed whether it shot down the plane. Andrii Yusov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence, called for an international investigation.

“Concerning specific causes of the plane’s crash, the request to create an international commission is logical and well-founded,” Mr Yusov said.

Russia had rejected the proposal, the spokesperson said.

A screengrab from a video of the explosion in Belgorod on Wednesday (Photo: AP)

Mr Yusov had previously stated that according to a Ukrainian assessment, just five bodies were taken from the crash site to a nearby morgue, contradicting Russia’s claim that 74 people on board died.

Russian media published footage said to be of the crash site on Friday that included images of body parts and photo IDs.

State agency Tass reported “documents of Ukrainian servicemen who died in the disaster, confirming their identities”.

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News website Sledkom stated that: “The fragments of the bodies of the victims discovered during the inspection are being seized in accordance with the established procedure.”

A list of supposed passenger names circulated by Russian media included prisoners who were exchanged in previous swaps, Ukraine claimed, casting doubt on its authenticity.

Thomas Newdick, an aviation specialist at military news website The War Zone, said Russia’s record over plane crashes suggested that mystery would persist.

“If you look at previous incidents of plane crashes and possible shootdowns in Russia – such as the Yevgeny Prigozhin incident – I think it’s likely that we are never going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened,” he said.

Mr Newdick added that Russia’s claims that just three guards accompanied 65 prisoners were “dubious”.

The aviation specialist said it remained possible that the crash was caused by friendly fire.

“The wreckage had the hallmarks of having been downed by an air defence system but without independent verification and more physical evidence it’s going to be difficult to say whether it was a Russian or Ukrainian missile,” he said.

Ukraine has demonstrated the ability to hunt high value Russian aircraft by pressing air defence systems forward and catching them by surprise, as in the shootdown of a rare A-50 aircraft earlier this month, Mr Newdick added.