Russian military transport plane crashes – DW – 01/24/2024

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he is still talking with the German government about obtaining German-made Taurus cruise missiles to aid in fighting off the Russian invasion.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has so far rejected supplying Taurus missiles to Ukraine, apparently fearing an escalation of the conflict if German missiles were used to attack Russian territory. 

However, in an interview with news outlets Bild, Welt.tv and Politico, Kuleba sought to address those fears.

“We don’t need a Taurus to attack Moscow,” Kuleba said, insisting that the missiles would be used only to strike Russian military infrastructure on occupied Ukrainian territory.

Western observers remain uncertain how Russia will react to such attacks, however, as it has claimed occupied areas to be Russian territory.

Ukraine remains heavily dependent on Western military aid as Moscow’s full-scale invasion has entered its 700th day.

Taurus missiles, which are equipped with stealth technology, have an official range of over 500 kilometers (300 miles).

Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament, has passed the first stage of a bill that will allow the state to seize the property of people convicted of “discrediting” or spreading “false information” about the Russian army.

The measure could notably be used to confiscate property from people who have left the country and have criticized Russia’s war in Ukraine, but who rely on rent revenue from apartments in Russia.

The bill has passed in the first of three required readings by 395 votes to 3.

“Discrediting” the armed forces — which in Russia can mean referring to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine as an invasion rather than as a “special military operation” —  is already punishable with a lengthy jail term under laws introduced in March 2022. 

A Russian military transport plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war on their way for a prisoner exchange has crashed over Russia’s Belgorod region, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said.

According to the TASS state news agency, there were also six Russian crew members and three escorts on board the Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft.

It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, which occurred around 11 a.m. Moscow time (0800 UTC). 

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said everyone onboard the military transport plane had died in the crash.

A special military commission was on the way to the crash site near the border with Ukraine, the ministry said.

Ukrainian media initially cited military sources as saying that Ukrainian forces downed the plane and that it was transporting missiles, but later corrected their reports, saying the information was unconfirmed.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian presidential adviser, told Reuters news ageny that “Comments will come a little later. Time is needed to
clarify all the data.”

The Kremlin said in response to a reporter’s question that it was looking into the situation.

The Belgorod region has come under frequent attack from Ukraine in recent months. 

tj/sms (AP, AFP, DPA, Reuters)