Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted on Friday that a Russian military plane, recently crashed near the Ukraine border, was intentionally or mistakenly shot down by Ukrainian air defenses, branding it a crime. Moscow accuses Kyiv of downing the plane, leading to the deaths of 74 individuals, including 65 Ukrainian soldiers, a claim that Ukraine has not confirmed.
Putin ruled out the possibility of Russian “friendly fire” and suggested that the missiles used were likely American or French, pending further investigation. Ukraine disputes the warnings provided and has pointed out discrepancies in the list of alleged passengers.
The Russian Investigative Committee claims to have recovered Ukrainian identity documents and tattooed body parts from the crash site.
This evidence, which includes documents from the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, is currently undergoing genetic testing. Russia has exclusive access to the crash site, making independent verification challenging.
Preliminary findings suggest that a surface-to-air missile from Ukraine caused the crash. Ukrainian officials lack credible information about the passengers. Russia’s state media reported that the black box flight recorders from the plane had been delivered to a Moscow laboratory.
