Ukrainian officials scrambled Thursday to reveal details of a deadly plane crash over the border with Russia, asking for citizens' patience as they investigate Moscow's claims that Ukraine shot down a Russian military plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on his country's intelligence services to determine what happened and conduct an international investigation into the disaster, and accused Russia of engaging in wartime propaganda regarding the episode.
The disaster and Russia’s claims that Ukraine shot down a plane carrying its own soldiers pose an uncomfortable challenge to the government in Kyiv, which is trying to prepare its citizens for a third year of war. Ukraine is on the defensive on the battlefield and considering a new mobilization that is likely to be unpopular at home, while struggling daily to secure critically needed Western support.
The differing accounts highlight one of the defining features of the war: a persistent lack of clarity with facts obscured by disinformation and competing agendas. Russia has pushed its dominant message for propaganda purposes at home and abroad. Ukraine has been reluctant to publicize any military failures. Tragedies and turning points in the war have been clouded by uncertainty, sometimes for weeks or longer.
Officials in Kyiv said it was too early to draw conclusions about the crash and that relatives should wait for confirmation from authorities in Ukraine. “We have not seen any signs of such a large number of people on board the plane, regardless of whether they were Ukrainian citizens or not,” the country’s human rights commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, told media on Thursday.
Ukraine's internal intelligence service said Thursday it had launched an investigation into the plane crash as a possible war crime, without providing any guidance on how it would do so.
The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on Thursday, called by Russia, to discuss the downing. Ukraine’s deputy UN ambassador, Khrystyna Gayovyshyn, told the council that Russia bears responsibility for the crash. She said Ukraine safely transported the Russian servicemen to an agreed location on January 24, awaiting a swap that never took place.
“The Ukrainian side was not informed about the need to ensure airspace security in the Belgorod area during this period, as has been done repeatedly in the past,” said Ms. Gayovyshyn. “The number of vehicles, routes and means of transporting prisoners were not reported to Ukraine. This alone may constitute deliberate actions by Russia aimed at threatening the lives and safety of prisoners.”.
The Ukrainian government, he said, asked the Red Cross whether it had been notified in advance about the prisoners' trip to the border area, which is a zone of active fighting.
Complicating any Ukrainian investigation is the fact that Russia has most of the key details about the episode, including who was involved. Ukrainians are deeply skeptical of any information coming from Russia, which they believe is intent on turning the disaster into a painful ordeal for the prisoners' families.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said again on Thursday that Ukraine had shot its own soldiers, calling it a “horrible act.” The incident, he said, cast doubt on the prospects for future prisoner exchanges.
Groups that monitor Russian propaganda say Moscow is pushing a message aimed at the West: Ukraine cannot be trusted with long-range weapons. Russian social media posts have accused Ukraine of killing its own people.
Hanna Chabarai, a Russian propaganda analyst at the Institute of Mass Information, an independent organization in Ukraine, noted: “The microphone is in Russia’s hands.”.
"This is emotional terrorism because the relatives and friends of the prisoners of war are very scared," she added.
