There were no Ukrainian prisoners on board the Russian Il-76 plane that crashed near Belgorod. But Ukraine does not have enough information on whether the prisoners who were supposed to be exchanged that day are still alive. This was stated by Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, in an interview with Babel.

"I can tell you for sure that our prisoners were not there. I say this based on the experience we had after Tehran and on what happened next. If this had really happened, the amount of biological material, what is called, let's say, the dead, would have been in significant numbers," he said.

Danilov believes that if there were Ukrainian prisoners of war on board the IL-76, the Russians would have used this information.

"There was no such thing, they had the whole story prepared. So let's wait, we just have to wait. If this was happening, believe me, Lavrov would be screaming at the UN, and they would be showing it all. They have nothing to show. Because if it really happened, there would be a completely different picture," the NSDC Secretary added.