Ukraine killed POWs with American missile – French state media — RT World News
Ukrainian forces used a US-supplied Patriot missile to shoot down a Russian cargo plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, state radio France reported on Wednesday, citing a Ukrainian military source.
An Il-76 military transport plane was shot down over Russia's Belgorod region on Wednesday morning. All on board died – 65 prisoners, six crew members, and three Russian soldiers; The Russian Defense Ministry says the plane was shot down by Ukrainian anti-aircraft missiles.
The ministry stated that the prisoners were transferred to the city of Belgorod to be exchanged for Russian soldiers in Ukrainian captivity, adding that the Ukrainian side is aware of the upcoming trip.
Radio France's source did not provide any additional information, but this claim supports a previous assertion by a senior member of the Russian Parliament that… “Patriot or Iris-T air defense missiles” They were used to shoot down the plane.
The Defense Ministry said the missiles were fired from the Liptsi suburb of Kharkov, about 100 kilometers from the crash site. Both the US Patriot systems and the German Iris-T systems are capable of engaging targets at this range, and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine He said It said on Wednesday that it regularly uses such systems to target Russian military flights in the region, without explicitly acknowledging that it shot down the Il-76.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky did not acknowledge the responsibility of his forces for shooting down the plane. In a statement on Wednesday, he called for “International investigation” To determine “All the hard truths” surrounding the incident.
The closest step towards an admission of guilt came from the Ukrainian military intelligence agency. The agency confirmed this in a statement on Wednesday evening “He was not informed of the need to ensure the safety of the airspace.” Across the border, they do not know how the prisoners will be transported.
The White House did not comment on the alleged use of Patriot missiles in the incident. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday that the United States was “He's definitely not in a position to do so.” No reports of the attack, and work has been done on that “Get more clarity and more information about this.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday to discuss the incident. France, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council, rejected this request and called a meeting for Thursday afternoon instead.
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