Russia-Ukraine war live: Moscow ‘playing with’ lives of Ukraine prisoners, says Zelenskiy after Russian plane crash | Ukraine
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Key events
Russia and Ukraine will continue exchanging prisoners of war despite the downing of a Russian military plane, the Interfax news agency cited Russian lawmaker Andrei Kartapolov as saying on Thursday.
Kartapolov said Russia would talk with “even the devil” to bring back its captured soldiers, Reuters reports Interfax said.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said Russia is “playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners of war” after Moscow accused Kyiv of downing a large military transport plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war to an exchange. Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied it hit the plane. Here is a clip of Zelenksiy’s address.
In Russia, Tass reports that Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov’s response to the call by Ukraine’s president for an investigation into the circumstances of the crash of the Russian transport plane in Belgorod yesterday was to call for an investigation into Kyiv’s actions.
It quotes Peskov saying “If [Zelenskiy] means an international investigation into the criminal actions of the Kyiv regime, it is definitely necessary.”
Citing the head of the regional press office, Suspline in Ukraine is reporting that one of the medics injured during yesterday’s Russian shelling of a hospital in Kherson is in a serious condition.
Reuters, citing the RIA news agency in Russia, reports that both black boxes have been recovered from the crashed Russian transport plane in the Belgorod region.
Moscow ‘playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners’, says Zelenskiy
“The Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, the feelings of their loved ones and the emotions of our society,” the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in his evening address.
Russia accused Ukraine of deliberately shooting down a Russian military transport plane carrying 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers travelling to a prisoner exchange. Ukraine called for full clarification of the circumstances of the incident, but did not directly confirm it had shot down the plane.
Zelenskiy, in his evening address said: “It is clear that the Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, the feelings of their loved ones and the emotions of our society.”
Air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk accused Russia of trying to undermine international support for Ukraine.
“Ukraine has the right to defend itself and destroy the means of the aggressors’ aerial attack,” he said.
Welcome and summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has called for full clarity into the circumstances of the crash of a Russian plane in the Belgorod region that killed everyone onboard.
Russian officials accuse Ukraine of deliberately shooting down the Il-76 military transport and claim it was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war due to take part in a swap. Ukrainian military intelligence said it did not have “reliable and comprehensive” information about who or what was onboard the flight.
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A drone attack on Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa injured one person and started a fire, the regional governor said. Writing on the Telegram messaging app, the governor said the attack had damaged housing in the city.
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The UK defence secretary, Grant Shapps, said its allies needed to “step up” the amount of military aid given to Ukraine. Writing in Politico, Shapps said: “Ukraine has done an unbelievable job of repelling its invader. It has retaken 50% cent of the territory stolen by Russia … but Kyiv needs more support – and not just from the UK.”
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The finance minister of Germany has said it can’t keep up Ukraine’s defence capabilities on its own in the long term and that others will need to increase bilateral contributions.
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Viktor Orbán has said he will urge the Hungarian parliament to sign off on Sweden’s Nato bid “at the first possible opportunity”, as diplomats said Hungary’s allies were “exasperated” by the country’s foot-dragging. Sweden applied to join Nato in May 2022, but its accession was delayed as Turkey and Hungary strung out the ratification process.
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Ukraine’s foreign ministry has called out US TV network HBO for casting a Serbian actor it says backs the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the next season of hit show The White Lotus. Miloš Biković was given Russian citizenship in 2021 and was personally honoured by Vladimir Putin for his contribution to Russian arts.
This is Martin Belam with you today. You can reach me at [email protected].
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