Uncertainty hangs over Russia's account of plane crash
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Transcript
00:00 A day on from the Russian military plane crash and the fallout continues with the church
00:05 memorial held for the pilots of the aircraft.
00:09 Onlookers on Wednesday were shocked to see the IL-76 fall from the sky, followed by a
00:13 huge ball of flames.
00:15 Russian authorities said all personnel on board were killed, swiftly putting blame on
00:19 Kiev for the disaster.
00:21 Moscow also declared that most of those on board were Ukrainians captured through Russia's
00:25 invasion.
00:26 "The Ukrainian prisoners of war were being transported to the Belgorod region in order
00:32 to conduct yet another prisoner swap that was agreed between Moscow and Kiev.
00:38 Instead of this, the Ukrainian side launched an air defence missile from the Kharkiv region.
00:43 It targeted the airplane and was a fatal strike."
00:46 While confirming that a prisoner swap was due to take place, Kiev itself said it had
00:50 no information about who was on the plane.
00:53 But it did say that Russian military aircraft were legitimate targets and that it received
00:57 no requests from Russia to secure the airspace, normally the case in prisoner swaps.
01:03 Ukraine's security service has meanwhile opened its own criminal probe into the events, with
01:07 President Volodymyr Zelensky calling for an international investigation.
01:11 "It is evident that the Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, with
01:16 the feelings of their families and with the emotions of our society.
01:19 It is necessary to establish all clear facts to the extent possible, considering that the
01:24 plane crash occurred on Russian territory, beyond our control."
01:29 Russian media has since revealed that the plane's black boxes have been discovered,
01:34 while lawmakers in Moscow say they gave Kiev a 15-minute warning before the plane went