Putin says Ukraine shot down military transport plane last week with U.S. Patriot missile system

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that an Il-76 military transport plane downed in the Belgorod region last week had been struck with missiles fired from a U.S.-supplied Patriot air defence system. Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied that it downed the plane, and has demanded proof of who was on board.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that an Il-76 military transport plane downed in the Belgorod region last week had been struck with missiles fired from a U.S.-supplied Patriot air defence system. Putin also said that Russia wanted an international investigation into the incident.

Moscow accuses Kyiv of downing the Ilyushin Il-76 plane and of killing 74 people on board, including 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers it said were en route to be swapped for Russian prisoners of war. Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied that it downed the plane, and has demanded proof of who was on board. (Writing by Maxim Rodionov Editing by Andrew Osborn)