Medical neutrality

Ukraine on Monday said it had asked the U.N. and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to verify the situation in areas of Russia's Kursk region seized by Kiev, in a move branded as "provacation" by Russia.

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.