Iranian court sentences for downing UIA plane, Russians shell Zaporizhzhia: last night's highlights
An Iranian court sent 10 soldiers to prison for shooting down a Ukrainian UIA plane in 2020, and the occupiers shelled country houses in Zaporizhzhia. Here is what you may have missed from the previous night.
Iranian court sentences
A court in Iran has sentenced 10 Iranian soldiers on charges of shooting down a Ukrainian passenger plane over Tehran in 2020. 176 people were killed in the incident.
The commander was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while nine other military personnel were sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison.
The Iranian news agency Mizan Online writes that the trial was “one of the most important, delicate, and complex trials in the country in the last few years”.
It is also noted that the actions of the commander who led the downing of the plane “were due to his ignorance of the situation and his mistaken belief that the identified target was hostile”.
Russian shelling
On the evening of 16 April, Russian occupation forces attacked country houses in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. There were no casualties, but windows were broken, facades, and cars were smashed.
Meanwhile, Russians fired three times during the day in Sumy Oblast at border communities – Velyka Pysarivska, Bilopillia, and Shalyhine. There were 16 mortar and artillery attacks.
Ukraine is preparing to confiscate a plane from Russia
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced that Ukraine may soon receive a Russian-owned AN-124 cargo plane (also known as Ruslan) from Canada.
“A new package of sanctions against Russia from Canada. In particular, against the Volga-Dnepr company. We are preparing to confiscate the AN-124 aircraft and other assets of the aggressor in Canada and transfer them to Ukraine,” Shmyhal wrote.
As a reminder, in March 2022, a Ukrainian court ruled to arrest 12 AN-124-100 Ruslan aircraft owned by Russia's largest commercial airline, Volga-Dnepr.
Since then, Ukrainian law enforcement officials, in cooperation with their counterparts in Europe, the United States, and Canada, have been taking steps to seize the aircraft and developing a universal legal mechanism to confiscate the aircraft in favor of Ukraine.
Other news
- The head of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy will discuss the export of Ukrainian agricultural products with the ministers of Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.
- The largest military exercise in 25 years begins in Sweden. Ukraine will take part in them.
- Ukraine has already released 2,235 people from Russian captivity, Hanna Maliar reported.
- UN Secretary-General calls for punishment for those responsible for the deaths of his colleagues and civilians in Sudan.
- Belgorod had “problems with electricity”. Local channels report that it was preceded by the sound of explosions.