The leader of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency stated on Friday that they did not possess reliable or thorough details about the individuals onboard the Russian aircraft that was shot down on Russian territory. This plane was reportedly transporting 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war to Ukraine in exchange for Russian POWs.

After a video was posted by Russia’s Investigative Committee claiming to show Ukrainian prisoners of war boarding a plane that later crashed in southern Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Intelligence Directorate, responded with a statement.

The footage on the committee’s Telegram channel depicts cars driving towards an Ilyushin-76 plane on a snowy runway. People are shown exiting the vehicles in anticipation of boarding the aircraft.

The video is without audio and is joined by just one statement explaining that it shows Ukrainian soldiers boarding a military transport. The location is not specified.

In a comment, Ukrainian Radio NV stated: “The video’s poor quality makes it challenging to fully comprehend the situation.”

Moscow and Kyiv continue to exchange accusations over the downing of the Ilyushin IL-76 plane in Russia’s Belgorod region. All 74 passengers died in the crash.

Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the crash for the first time in a televised speech on Friday.

“I am uncertain if their actions were intentional or accidental, but it is evident that they indeed committed it,” stated Putin. “Regardless, the incident is a violation. Whether it was due to carelessness or deliberate intent, it is still considered a wrongdoing.”

According to Putin, the Russian air defense systems are equipped with protective measures that prevent them from mistakenly attacking their own planes, therefore it is unlikely that the downing of the plane was caused by Russian “friendly fire.”

According to him, there are systems in place that determine whether an entity is a friend or foe. However, the operator’s actions do not affect the functionality of our air defense systems.

Putin stated that the projectiles launched were probably of American or French origin, and he declared that this would be confirmed within two to three days.

The Russian state investigative committee announced on Friday that they had retrieved Ukrainian identification papers and body parts with tattoos from the location of the Russian military aircraft crash. These items will be used for genetic testing.

The evidence gathered also contained “records of Ukrainian soldiers who perished in the tragedy, verifying their identities, along with supporting documents from the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service.”

Russia has sole access to the crash site. Reuters could not independently verify its account of what happened and what evidence had been recovered. On Thursday the investigative committee said preliminary findings showed the plane was struck by a surface-to-air missile fired from Ukraine.

There is no evidence provided by Russia to back up their claims.

Ukraine refutes Russia’s claim that they were notified about a plane transporting Ukrainian prisoners of war flying over Russia’s Belgorod region in the southwest.

Additionally, it has been stated that there are inconsistencies in a roster released by Russian media claiming that 65 Ukrainians were on the plane.

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that his administration was determined to pursue an international inquiry in order to uncover the truth.

During the U.N. Security Council meeting, a representative from Ukraine restated their request for a global inquiry, citing that the Russian military had prevented emergency personnel from reaching the crash site.

“Deputy U.N. Ambassador Khrystyna Hayovyshyn stated that our military intelligence reports only five bodies were delivered to the Belgorod morgue and there are no observable human remains in videos captured at the crash site.”

Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s deputy representative, rejected this statement as “unfounded paranoia.”

Ukraine peace summit

Ukraine has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to participate in a planned “peace summit” of world leaders in Switzerland on Ukraine’s defensive war against Russia, senior diplomatic presidential adviser Ihor Zhovkva said.

Zhovkva confirmed to Reuters this week that we will extend a formal invitation to China to join the summit, with the president of the People’s Republic of China attending at the highest level.

Zhovkva emphasized the importance of China’s involvement in the summit.

China, a country allied with Russia, has stated the importance of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations. They have also offered to assist in resolving the conflict, but have refrained from condemning Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

In the past two years, China has significantly raised its energy imports from Russia, coinciding with the start of the war.

Switzerland, a neutral country, has accepted to organize the Ukraine peace conference at the request of Zelenskyy. However, a specific date and location have not been determined yet as the teams are still working out the specifics, according to Zhovkva.

US-Russia

The Kremlin has rejected a report from Bloomberg, released on Friday, suggesting that Putin had initiated communication with the United States in hopes of discussing a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine. It was also speculated that he may be willing to compromise on certain demands regarding Ukraine’s security.

According to the Bloomberg report, Putin was “exploring the possibilities” of engaging in talks with Washington and had used indirect means to reach out to the United States.

According to two sources close to the Kremlin, it was mentioned that Putin might be open to the idea of giving up the demand for Ukraine to remain neutral and potentially even relinquish their opposition to joining NATO in the future. This opposition has been a major reason cited by Russia for their invasion.

Reporters inquired Kremlin representative Dmitry Peskov on his thoughts regarding the matter and specifically if Moscow was willing to relinquish its request for neutrality and NATO.

According to Peskov, this report is incorrect and completely inaccurate.

Hungary-Ukraine

According to an anonymous senior EU official, the relationship between Budapest and Kyiv has become tense due to Hungary’s disapproval of the EU providing financial assistance to Ukraine, as well as Ukraine’s attempt to join NATO and the EU. This information was reported by Reuters on Friday.

The EU representative stated that the negotiation has become more complex because Hungary’s stance on the issue has not been very adaptable.

The official stated that other EU member states are becoming increasingly frustrated with Hungary due to their desire to provide additional aid to Ukraine.

The report was contributed to by Margaret Besheer, VOA’s United Nations correspondent. Some of the content was sourced from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and Reuters.

Source: voanews.com