No survivors in plane crash, governor says
- Belgorod governor says all those on board a Russian military transport plane that crashed in the region have died.
- Ukrainian officials caution against sharing unverified information after Russian state media, citing the Defence Ministry, and say the Ilyushin Il-76 was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Kyiv confirms there was a prisoner exchange planned for today: Report
Andriy Yusov, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence, has confirmed that an exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine was being prepared for today.
This was reported by Ukraine’s state broadcaster Suspilne citing Radio Free Europe, a media outlet based in the Czech Republic.
Yusov added that the prisoner exchange would not be going ahead.
Medvedev calls Belgorod plane crash result of internal political struggle in Kyiv
Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and current deputy chairman of the security council, claims on his Telegram channel that “the story of the destruction of the Il-76 aircraft is the result of the internal political struggle of neo-Nazi elites in Kyiv”.
“To maintain their power [Kyiv’s elites] will easily kill their military personnel and prisoners of war. [They will] mercilessly bomb their cities and villages, pulverising their homes and incinerating their elderly and children,” he added.
“After all, the main thing at stake is power and money,” Medvedev wrote.
Moscow says plane hit by antiaircraft missiles
Russia’s Defence Ministry is also blaming the “Kyiv regime” for the downing of the Russian transport plane that crashed, saying its radar had detected the launch of two Ukrainian missiles.
The ministry added that the Ukrainian military had hit the plane with an antiaircraft missile system from the Kharkiv region, according to the state news agency TASS.
Slovakia will support Kyiv on path to join EU: Ukraine’s PM
Denys Shmyhal says he has received reassurances from his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico that the country will support Kyiv’s aspirations to join the EU.
“Slovakia will support the Ukraine Facility program which envisages the provision of 50 billion euros [$54.5bn] by the EU for Ukraine,” Shmyhal said on X after talks with Fico, who previously reversed course on Slovakia’s foreign policy to halt military support for Ukraine.
