Russia says Ukrainians shot down their own POWS. Did they?

On Wednesday, Russia claimed that Ukraine, using missiles made by Western allies, shot down a cargo plane with 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war (PoWs) on board. A plane did crash: a Russian Il-76 aircraft came down near the village of Yablonovo, 70km (44 miles) to the north-east of the city of Belgorod, at about 11:00 local time (08:00 GMT). A prisoner exchange was due to take place. But everything else is uncertain: a video showed the plane exploded not in the air but on the ground; there was no information released in Russian media about the plane’s crew and unverified footage from the site did not show any bodies. Ukraine has not confirmed that Ukrainian prisoners were on board. Ukraine’s Zelensky said the Russians were “playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners” and called for an international inquiry.