Ukrainian officials on Thursday made an effort to release details of a deadly plane crash over the border with Russia, asking citizens for patience while they investigate Moscow's claims that Ukraine shot down a Russian warplane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on his country's special services to determine what happened and conduct an international investigation into the disaster, and also accused Russia of participating in wartime propaganda regarding this episode.
The disaster and Russia's claims that Ukraine shot down a plane with its own soldiers on board pose an unpleasant challenge for 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 domestically, while struggling daily to gain critically needed support from the West.
The differing versions highlight one of the defining features of the war: a constant lack of clarity with the facts obscured by misinformation and competing agendas. Russia promotes its dominant messages for propaganda purposes at home and abroad. Ukraine does not want to publicize any military failures. Tragedies and turning points in the war were clouded by uncertainty, sometimes for weeks or longer.
Officials in Kyiv said it was too early to draw conclusions about the disaster and that relatives should wait for confirmation from the authorities in Ukraine. "We have not seen any signs of such a large number of people on board the plane, regardless of whether they are citizens of Ukraine or not," Dmytro Lubinets, the country's human rights commissioner, told the media on Thursday.
Ukraine's domestic intelligence service said on Thursday it had opened an investigation into the plane crash as a possible war crime, without giving any indication of how it would do so.
On Thursday, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting called by Russia to discuss the shooting. Deputy Ambassador of Ukraine to the UN Khrystyna Hayovyshyn told the Council that Russia is responsible for the disaster. According to her, on January 24, Ukraine safely transported the Russian military to the agreed place, waiting for the exchange, which did not take place.
"The Ukrainian side was not informed about the need to ensure the safety of the airspace in the region of Belgorod during this specified period, as it was done repeatedly in the past," said Ms. Hayovyshyn. "Ukraine was not informed about the number of vehicles, routes and means of transportation of prisoners. This alone can represent deliberate actions of Russia aimed at threatening the lives and safety of prisoners."
According to him, the Government of Ukraine 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 hostilities.
Complicating any investigation by Ukraine 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 intends to turn the disaster into a painful ordeal for the families of the prisoners.
Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov said again on Thursday that Ukraine had shot its own soldiers and called it a "horrific act." This incident, he said, called into question the prospects of future prisoner exchanges.
Groups that monitor Russian propaganda say Moscow is pushing a message to the West: Ukraine cannot be trusted with long-range weapons. Russian social media posts accused Ukraine of killing its own people.
Hanna Chabarai, an analyst of Russian propaganda at the Institute of Mass Information, an independent organization in Ukraine, noted: "The microphone is in Russia's hands."
"This is emotional terrorism because relatives and friends of prisoners of war are very scared," she added.
