Ukraine's Defence Intelligence: "We were not informed about the routes and forms of delivery of prisoners"
This may indicate Russia's deliberate actions aimed at endangering the lives and safety of prisoners, the agency said.
The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine confirmed that the prisoner exchange scheduled for today did not take place.
According to the Russian side, the GUR reports that this happened as a result of the downing of a Russian Il-76 aircraft that was allegedly transporting Ukrainian prisoners.
"At the moment, we do not have reliable and comprehensive information about who exactly was on board the plane and in what quantity," the Ukrainian intelligence service said in a telegram.
For its part, Ukraine has fulfilled all the agreements to prepare the exchange, the DIU noted. The Russian captured servicemen were delivered on time to the agreed point for the exchange, where they were safe.
"According to the agreements, the security of our defenders was to be ensured by the Russian side. At the same time, the Ukrainian side was not informed about the need to ensure the security of the airspace in the area of Belgorod within a certain period of time, as it had been done many times in the past.
Ukraine was not informed about the number of vehicles, routes and forms of delivery of prisoners. It is known that prisoners are delivered by air, rail and road. This may indicate deliberate actions by Russia aimed at threatening the lives and safety of prisoners," the DIU noted.
As noted in the report, the landing of a transport aircraft in a 30-kilometer combat zone cannot be safe and in any case should be discussed by both parties, because otherwise it jeopardizes the entire exchange process.
"Based on this, we can talk about planned and deliberate actions of the Russian Federation to destabilize the situation in Ukraine and weaken international support for our country," the agency said.
Background. As a reminder, the DIU spokesman Andriy Yusov said that the exchange of prisoners of war was being prepared today, and that the information about the IL-76 is still being checked.
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