Sobre o avião derrubado em Belgorod com "prisioneiros de guerra" à bordo.
Il-76 crash in Belgorod region: violation of the laws and rules of war. Assessment of the situation.
Russia officially stated that "Ukrainian prisoners of war who were allegedly on board, allegedly died".
As of today, we know two facts:
1. The plane was shot down;
2. A prisoner exchange was planned but did not take place.
The plane went down on Russian territory - outside of Ukraine's control.
International experts must determine whether the facts are true. Ukraine insists on an international investigation - President Zelenskyy.
The Security Service of Ukraine has opened a criminal investigation of the crash of the Il-76 (SSU confirmed this in a comment to Radio Liberty).
There are currently three hypothetical versions of what the plane could have been carrying:
there were no Ukrainian prisoners of war on board;
there were prisoners of war on board;
in addition to prisoners of war, there was military cargo on board.
All three options mean a blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions.
The first one assumes that the aggressor organized a provocation and was preparing for it. This is a gross violation of the Third Geneva Convention by the Russian Federation and a war crime committed by Russians: repressions, i.e. killing prisoners of war in another place and in another way and taking prisoners of war as hostages.
The second option is also a violation of the Third Geneva Convention by the Russian Federation - a violation of the laws and customs of war. The Convention requires that the ICRC and the Protecting Power, i.e. an official intermediary, be involved in the exchange of prisoners of war and monitoring of their condition.
The Russian Federation sabotages the appointment of the Protecting Power and does not allow the ICRC to participate in the negotiation and exchange processes.
According to Article 23 of the Geneva Convention, "no prisoner of war may at any time be sent to or detained in areas where he may be exposed to the fire of the combat zone, nor may his presence be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations".
The third option includes such war crimes of the Russian Federation as taking hostages in the form of a "human shield" on an airplane to "cover" the transportation of cargo (could be missiles for the shelling of Kharkiv. Earlier, there were several reports of S-300 missiles being delivered by Il-76 aircraft in Belgorod region).
Any hypothetical scenario, even the saddest one, described above, does not imply international responsibility of Ukraine and the Ukrainian military.
By commenting on the situation with the plane, Russian propaganda is trying to gain international support. If it succeeds, it could mean that the tactic of suddenly killing Ukrainian prisoners of war could be used again.
We remember how Russia and its propaganda acted when commenting on the massacre of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka and the explosion of the Kakhovka HPP. This is the same handwriting of a terrorist country.
"Russia consents to an international investigation into the crash of the Il-76 with Ukrainian prisoners of war near Belgorod on condition that it is seen as an investigation into the "criminal actions of the Kyiv regime" - presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this morning.
In fact, this means rejecting an international expertise. And that speaks volumes.
As of today, we know two facts:
1. The plane was shot down;
2. A prisoner exchange was planned but did not take place.
The plane went down on Russian territory - outside of Ukraine's control.
International experts must determine whether the facts are true. Ukraine insists on an international investigation - President Zelenskyy.
The Security Service of Ukraine has opened a criminal investigation of the crash of the Il-76 (SSU confirmed this in a comment to Radio Liberty).
There are currently three hypothetical versions of what the plane could have been carrying:
there were no Ukrainian prisoners of war on board;
there were prisoners of war on board;
in addition to prisoners of war, there was military cargo on board.
All three options mean a blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions.
The first one assumes that the aggressor organized a provocation and was preparing for it. This is a gross violation of the Third Geneva Convention by the Russian Federation and a war crime committed by Russians: repressions, i.e. killing prisoners of war in another place and in another way and taking prisoners of war as hostages.
The second option is also a violation of the Third Geneva Convention by the Russian Federation - a violation of the laws and customs of war. The Convention requires that the ICRC and the Protecting Power, i.e. an official intermediary, be involved in the exchange of prisoners of war and monitoring of their condition.
The Russian Federation sabotages the appointment of the Protecting Power and does not allow the ICRC to participate in the negotiation and exchange processes.
According to Article 23 of the Geneva Convention, "no prisoner of war may at any time be sent to or detained in areas where he may be exposed to the fire of the combat zone, nor may his presence be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations".
The third option includes such war crimes of the Russian Federation as taking hostages in the form of a "human shield" on an airplane to "cover" the transportation of cargo (could be missiles for the shelling of Kharkiv. Earlier, there were several reports of S-300 missiles being delivered by Il-76 aircraft in Belgorod region).
Any hypothetical scenario, even the saddest one, described above, does not imply international responsibility of Ukraine and the Ukrainian military.
By commenting on the situation with the plane, Russian propaganda is trying to gain international support. If it succeeds, it could mean that the tactic of suddenly killing Ukrainian prisoners of war could be used again.
We remember how Russia and its propaganda acted when commenting on the massacre of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka and the explosion of the Kakhovka HPP. This is the same handwriting of a terrorist country.
"Russia consents to an international investigation into the crash of the Il-76 with Ukrainian prisoners of war near Belgorod on condition that it is seen as an investigation into the "criminal actions of the Kyiv regime" - presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this morning.
In fact, this means rejecting an international expertise. And that speaks volumes.