According to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, Ukraine aims to provoke Russia into retaliatory strikes following the downing of an Il-76 plane last week.

The Russian Defense Ministry said an Il-76 military transport airplane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war set to be exchanged was shot down in the Belgorod region. All the prisoners of war, together with six crew members and three accompanying persons on board the aircraft, were killed. The Ministry accused the Ukrainian forces of downing the airplane after an exchange of prisoners of war had been arranged.

Putin detailed how Ukraine has several goals behind targeting peaceful cities like pulling attention away from their failed counteroffensive, proving they can do something, and provoking Russia into retaliatory actions.

In a meeting with authorized representatives, Putin accused Western media of downplaying the targeting, vowing that "we will not forget about the crimes they commit against our citizens."

Putin also expressed that Russia insisted on an international probe into the crash, revealing that the plane was shot down by a US-made Patriot system.

Earlier in the day, a representative for the emergency services told Sputnik that the investigation into the crash proved that the aircraft was brought down by a Western-made air defense missile.

"The plane was shot down — it has already been established for sure — by the US-made Patriot system. The investigation has already established this," Putin divulged during the meeting. 

Russia will not halt the process of exchanging prisoners of war (POW) with Ukraine, he vowed, if the Ukrainian side was ready to do so. 

“We won't stop [exchanging POWs]. We need to bring our guys home. We have a ratio of people who are in Russia [Ukrainian POWs], our guys who are in Ukraine … one to ten, maybe even more. "

Earlier in the day, the Defense Ministry announced that Russia had returned 195 soldiers from the Kiev-controlled area following prisoner-of-war exchange agreements.

US departments contradict each other's statements over Russian plane crash

In a related context, US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel claimed on Thursday that the United States was not involved in the crash of an Il-76 plane in Russia’s Belgorod region with Ukrainian prisoners of war on board.

"I can certainly say that the United States was not involved in this [plane crash] in any way," Patel said during a press briefing.

But later on Thursday, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said the US is looking into the potential involvement of US-made weapons in the downing of the plane.