2024-01-26 18:03:42
Two days after the crash of a Russian military plane which, according to Moscow, was transporting 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, the questions remain numerous and are particularly pressing for the relatives of captive soldiers, torn between “shock”, doubts and anger .
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On Wednesday, a military transport plane crashed in troubled conditions near the Russian village of Yablonovo, in the Belgorod region, 45 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, killing all 74 occupants, according to Russian authorities.
Russia, which accuses Kyiv of having shot it down, assures that it was transporting 65 Ukrainian prisoners who were going to be exchanged that day – with a crew of six people and three Russian soldiers – but has not provided any evidence supporting these allegations. .
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that the plane was shot down by Ukrainian forces and that they knew it was carrying Ukrainian prisoners.
“The Ukrainian army’s intelligence services knew that we were carrying 65 (Ukrainian, editor’s note) servicemen on board. They shot him down, by mistake or on purpose, but they did it,” he told Russian students in his first comment on the crash.
“In any case it is a crime,” he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for an independent international investigation. kyiv appeared to question whether any prisoners were on board.
No news from the prisoners
Occurring at a time when the issue of soldiers in the hands of Moscow’s forces and their exchange is particularly sensitive, this crash has awakened the suffering of the relatives of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers still detained by Russia.
“For three hours, while you’re watching the news, you no longer exist, you look at your phone and that’s it,” the Ukrainian continues. “I want to see him alive, healthy, and at home,” she said.
For her part, Yevgeniyya Synelnyk, 30, has no news of her brother Artem, also a prisoner of war.
Both Artem and Vadim were captured at the Azovstal Steel Plant in Mariupol on May 20, 2022.
This is where the last defenders of this besieged city were entrenched, considered heroes in Ukraine for having resisted for weeks the deluge of Russian fire which largely destroyed the city.
“Terrorist act”
Upon hearing the news, Yevgeniya Synelnyk said she was “shocked, but not completely”. It remains marked by the bombing, in July 2022, of a prison in Olenivka, in eastern Ukraine occupied by Russia, an attack during which more than 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war died.
Kyiv and Moscow accuse each other, but the Ukrainian is convinced that Russia committed a “terrorist act”.
So, for her, this crash shows that the Russian army “continues”. “They show the whole world how they handle prisoners of war,” she assures.
“So it’s just a disappointment, and it’s already so tiring,” she explains. “And what can we do?” “In our situation, the normal state is to be exhausted, depressed, disappointed,” continues Yevgeniya Synelnyk.
Despite the anguish, she is determined to “fight” for her brother until she finally obtains “a definitive answer”. “That’s my only goal,” she says.
On Thursday, the Ukrainian human rights commissioner, one of the people in charge of the prisoner exchanges, Dmytro Loubinets, called on the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to “inspect the scene” of the crash.
However, he said he was “convinced” that Moscow would not allow “anyone (…) to see the site”. The ICRC, refusing any “speculation”, affirmed that it “does not know what happened”.
More than 8,000 Ukrainians, including more than 1,600 civilians, are detained by the Russians, according to Kyiv.
In recent months, Moscow has increased the trials of hundreds of prisoners, accusing them of war crimes. These prosecutions were denounced by Kyiv and human rights organizations.
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