Ukraine: prisoner swap with Russia fails

Russia accuses Ukraine of shooting down its military transport plane IL-76. It says there were 65 Ukrainian POWs on board.

Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate has confirmed that a prisoner exchange scheduled for 24 January did not occur.

“A prisoner swap planned for today did not occur. Russia claims this resulted from their IL-76 being downed while allegedly carrying Ukrainian captives. We currently lack reliable information on who exactly was aboard,” Ukraine’s intelligence said on Telegram.

Ukraine’s intelligence also stressed that Ukraine fulfilled all preparations for the prisoner swap, delivering Russian prisoners to the agreed location where they stayed unharmed. Yet Russia, responsible for Ukrainian POWs’ safety, gave no heads-up about securing airspace near Belgorod when transferring them, despite past coordination.

“Landing a transport plane in an active 30km battle zone endangers any prisoner exchange unless coordinated by both sides. Russia’s failure to discuss risks could signal premeditated attempts to destabilize Ukraine and erode our international backing,” Ukraine’s intelligence determined.

On 24 January, a Russian IL-76 military cargo plane crashed in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast. The Kremlin accused Ukraine of deliberately shooting down the plane, which they claim was carrying 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers for a prisoner exchange, in what it called a “barbaric act of terrorism” that killed 74 people total.

Video captures the moment of the Russian transport IL-76 crash in Belgorod Oblast, Russia.

The Kremlin says the Ukrainian army shot down the plane, claiming dozens of

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