Russia calls for emergency UNSC meeting after downing of plane

United Nations, Jan 25: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Russia has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC) after the downing of a Russian plane carrying captured Ukrainian soldiers.

At a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, Lavrov said Moscow requested a meeting for 3 p.m. Wednesday. But obviously, the meeting has not been scheduled accordingly, Xinhua news agency reported.

Lavrov said a Russian IL-76 transport aircraft was downed with 65 captured Ukrainian military servicemen on board together with three Russian officers and six crew members. All people on board the plane died as a result of what he said was a terrorist attack by Ukraine.

Lavrov said an air defence missile launched by Ukraine from the Kharkiv region downed the plane in the Belgorod region. The IL-76 was carrying the 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers from Moscow to Belgorod for a prisoner-of-war swap that had been agreed on between Moscow and Kiev.