• The SBU is taking measures to clarify the circumstances of the downing.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calls for an international investigation.
• Kyiv confirms a prisoner exchange at the border.

On Thursday, Ukraine’s SBU security service initiated a criminal probe into the downing of a Russian military plane, which Moscow claimed resulted in the death of 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Kyiv has not disclosed whether it played a role or if captured Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the shooting down of a military transport plane over Russia’s western Belgorod region on Wednesday, near the border with Ukraine.

“The security service of Ukraine has opened a criminal investigation into the downing of an IL-76 Russian Air Force plane in the Belgorod region,” the SBU press service said.

“The SBU is currently taking a range of measures to clarify all the circumstances of the downing,” it said.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for an international investigation into the incident. Kyiv confirmed that a prisoner exchange was scheduled to occur on Wednesday at the border between the two countries but stated that Moscow did not inform them of any plan to transport prisoners of war by plane.

Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied Russia’s central claim that Kyiv shot down the plane, resulting in the deaths of dozens of Ukrainian soldiers on board. The SBU stated that its criminal probe is examining “violations of the laws and customs of war.”

On Thursday, Zelensky warned that Ukraine’s ability to ascertain facts about the crash would be hindered as it occurred on Russian territory.

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