Russia says Ukraine given 15-minute warning on POW flight; black boxes found at crash site
- Moscow’s assertion about the warning contradicts a statement by Ukrainian military intelligence that Russia had not informed it about the flight arrangements
- Russia has sole access to the site of the crash, and state media said the plane’s black boxes had been recovered and would be flown to Moscow for examination
A senior Russian lawmaker said Ukrainian military intelligence had been given a 15-minute warning before a Russian military transport plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war entered an area where it was shot down on Wednesday.
Russia accuses Ukraine of downing the plane, killing all 74 people on board, including 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers en route to be swapped for Russian POWs.
Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied Russia’s assertion, but has demanded an international investigation.
“The Ukrainian side was officially warned, and 15 minutes before the plane entered the zone they were given complete information, which they received and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed receipt of,” Andrei Kartapolov told fellow lawmakers, according to the ruling United Russia party.
“We all know very well what happened next,” added Kartapolov, a former general with close links to the defence ministry who now heads Russia’s parliamentary defence committee.
His assertion directly contradicted a statement by Ukrainian military intelligence that Russia had not informed it about the flight arrangements.
Conflicting narratives from both sides are a daily feature of a war now nearing the end of its second year. But the stakes are especially high in relation to Wednesday’s incident, the deadliest of its kind to take place on Russia’s own internationally recognised territory.