Vladimir Putin has been accused of using Ukrainian prisoners of war as human shields on board a downed Russian military plane.
Khrystyna Hayovyshyn, Ukraine’s deputy ambassador to the UN, said it would be the first case of Russia using human shields on aircraft to cover for transportation of weaponry if it was confirmed PoWs were on board.
“Ukraine was not informed about the number of vehicles, roads and means of transportation of the captives. This alone may constitute intentional actions by Russia to endanger the lives and safety of the prisoners,” she added.
It comes after Kyiv opened a criminal complaint into the crash of the Russian military plane after Moscow accused Ukraine of downing the aircraft which was allegedly carrying 65 PoWs.
Kyiv did not directly confirm it had shot down the Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane, which was downed near the Russian city of Belgorod near the Ukrainian border on Wednesday. It did not confirm that Ukrainian prisoners were on board.
Elsewhere, overnight Russian missile attacks on two Ukrainian cities left seven people injured and damaged a nursery and a school.