The Kremlin on Thursday said Ukraine had shot a military transport plane carrying dozens of Ukrainian detainees headed for a prisoner exchange in a "monstrous act".
"It is of course a monstrous act," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the IL-76 plane which Russia says was carrying 65 Ukrainian soldiers and was shot down by Ukraine on Wednesday.
"No-one can say what impact this will have" on extending a prisoner exchange programme, he said.
Russia's defence ministry claimed Ukrainian forces stationed in the Kharkiv border region had fired two missiles at the plane and described the incident as a "terrorist act".
Kyiv has neither confirmed nor denied the Russian allegation.
