Russian lawmaker Andriy Kartapolov said Ukrainian military intelligence received a warning 15 minutes before a Russian warplane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war entered the area where it was shot down on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Russia blames Ukraine for shooting down the plane, which killed all 74 people on board, including 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers who were on their way to be exchanged for Russian prisoners of war. Kyiv did not confirm or deny Moscow’s statement, but called for an international investigation.

“The Ukrainian side was officially warned, and 15 minutes before the plane entered the zone, they received full information, which the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that it had received,” Andriy Kartapolov told fellow People’s Deputies, according to the ruling United Russia party, which supports Vladimir Putin in the presidential elections in March.

“We all know very well what happened next,” added Kartapolov, a former general with close ties to the Russian Defense Ministry who now heads the Russian Federation’s parliamentary defense committee.

His statement directly contradicted the statement of the Ukrainian military intelligence that Russia did not inform them about the organization of the flight.

Conflicting testimony from both sides is a daily feature of the war, which is now entering its second year. But the stakes are particularly high in connection with Wednesday’s incident, the deadliest of its kind on Russia’s internationally recognized territory.

Moscow called the downing of the Ilyushin-76 military transport plane in the Belgorod region in southwestern Russia, near the border with Ukraine, a “terrorist act” by Kyiv.

Zelensky called for an international investigation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that more clarity was needed about what happened, including who was on board, and accused Russia of “playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners.”

He called for an international investigation, a call repeated on Thursday by the Commissioner of Human Rights of Ukraine, Dmytro Lubinet.

“As for the international investigation, I think we will do our part to make that happen. But I am convinced that… the Russians will make loud statements, but they will not let anyone in. They will not submit any material for analysis and will simply blame Ukraine,” Lubinets said on national television.

Russia has exclusive access to the crash site, where television footage showed debris strewn across snow-covered fields. The state news agency TASS reported that the plane’s black boxes have been found and will be sent to Moscow for examination at the Russian Defense Ministry’s laboratory.

According to TASS, fragments similar to a missile were found at the crash site of the military plane.

Ukrainian military intelligence has confirmed that the exchange of prisoners is to take place

Ukrainian military intelligence confirmed on Wednesday that a prisoner-of-war exchange was to take place, but did not say how Russia would deliver the prisoners to the surrender point.

They also stated that Ukraine was not asked to provide protection of the airspace in the Belgorod area, unlike the agreements of previous exchanges.

Kyiv confirmed on Thursday that it had not received any written or verbal request from Russia, Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov told Radio Liberty.

“Unfortunately, we can assume various scenarios, including provocative ones, as well as the use of Ukrainian prisoners as human shields for the transportation of ammunition and weapons for the S-300 systems,” he said.

The United Nations Security Council was due to meet on Thursday at 22:00 GMT in response to Russia’s request to meet to determine the “motives of the Ukrainian criminal act”.