UN Security Council to Hold Meeting on Ukraine

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency closed session, following Moscow’s demand which accuses Kyiv of downing its plane. The UN Security Council will hold an emergency closed session on Ukraine. Russia requested it after the crash of a Russian military transport plane allegedly carrying captured Ukrainian soldiers. The IL-76 crashed on Wednesday in the Belgorod region border area. Moscow accused Kyiv of shooting it down, saying that all 74 people on board were killed, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war on their way to be exchanged. Independent media did not confirm this information. At the UN briefing on Wednesday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow was not concerned if foreign media did not believe its version of the disaster, adding that Russia had nothing to discuss with the United States. He also called fears that Russia intended to attack Europe “nonsense”. Wednesday marked 700 days since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the aggression, saying that the Russians were playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, the feelings of their relatives and the emotions of Ukrainian society. With regards to the plane crash, Zelensky said: “It is necessary to establish all the facts as clearly as possible, given that the plane crash took place on Russian territory, it’s beyond our control.” He also said that Kyiv would demand an independent international investigation into the disaster. Rescuers found the body of another victim of Russian shelling - an 8-year-old girl - under the rubble in Kharkiv. The strikes on Tuesday killed at least 18 people and injured dozens of others. Civilian infrastructure was damaged: more than 200 objects were hit. On Thursday night, the Russian army fired 14 Shahed-136/131 attack drones at the Ukrainian territory. The air defense destroyed 11 of them. According to the Ukrainian side, the drones were launched from the Primorsko-Akhtarsk area and from Cape Chauda (Crimea).