President Putin says Ukrainian prisoner plane hit by Patriot missile

One of the Ukrainian prisoners of war was returned to his country on January 31.

Moscow announced that all 74 people on board the plane were killed, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were about to be released to Kyiv.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry , the plane departed from Chkalovsky airport to Belgorod and carried Ukrainian prisoners of war to prepare for an exchange with Kyiv.

"The plane carrying prisoners was shot down, and the results show that it was by an American Patriot system. This was confirmed through a forensic investigation," TASS quoted President Putin as saying on Russian television on January 31.

Kyiv and Washington have not yet officially responded to the information released by Russia.

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In previous statements and comments, Ukrainian officials did not deny the versions of the incident, but questioned whether the plane was actually carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war.

For its part, the Russian Investigative Committee on January 26 released a video clip that allegedly shows several trucks approaching a transport plane parked on a snowy runway.

Russia confirmed that the parked plane was a military transport plane that crashed in the Belgorod region two days ago.

Patriot is a surface-to-air missile that can target aircraft or intercept incoming missiles.

The US has delivered Patriot missiles to Ukraine after months of Kyiv's request.

Also on January 31, Russia and Ukraine held their first prisoner exchange since the plane crash on January 24. A total of more than 400 prisoners from both sides were transferred in the latest batch.

Russia received 195 soldiers, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 207 people, both military and civilians, had returned home, according to AFP.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/tong-thong-putin-noi-may-bay-cho-tu-binh-ukraine-trung-ten-lua-patriot-185240131221508725.htm