Uncertainty hangs over Russia's account of plane crash

Questions remained Thursday over the military plane crash that Russia said had killed dozens of captured Ukrainian soldiers ahead of a planned prisoner exchange, with Moscow and Kiev trading accusations at the U.N. Security Council.

Russia has blamed Ukrainian forces for downing the IL-76 transport plane over the southern Belgorod region on Wednesday.

It said 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers were on board, as well as their escorts and the crew.

Videos on social media showed a large plane in the region plummeting from the sky on its side before crashing in a fireball, in what the Kremlin called a "monstrous act".

Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said it had opened a "terrorism" probe into the crash, saying the plane was downed by a "missile from the territory of Ukraine".

It released a 39-second video of the scene that mainly showed aerial shots of a large blackened stretch in a snow-covered field with some damaged trees.

The video also showed a block of twisted metal and wires, as well as a hand and an arm -- though it was unclear if they were from one or two people. No other human remains were shown.

"Fragmented remains of people were found, as well as the flight recorders of the aircraft, which were sent for decoding," the Investigative Committee said.

Ukraine's SBU security service also announced it had opened a criminal probe into the downing, specifically into "violations of the laws and customs of war".

Ukraine's rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets called for the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to be allowed to inspect the crash site.

The ICRC did not respond to Kiev's request, but it described the reports of the crash as ...