Briefly

EUROPE

Russia, Ukraine trade barbs over plane crash

Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations over the crash on Wednesday of a Russian IL-76 military transport plane which Russia says was carrying 65 Ukrainian soldiers, killing all the 74 people aboard. The Kremlin on Thursday said Ukraine had shot the plane headed for a prisoner exchange in a "monstrous act". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an evening address on Wednesday: "It is obvious that the Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners." Russia's defense ministry said Ukrainian forces had fired two missiles at the plane and described the incident as a "terrorist act". Kyiv has neither confirmed nor denied the allegation. Black boxes of the aircraft were found at the crash site, Russia's Sputnik news agency reported on Thursday as Ukraine's SBU security service opened a criminal probe. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council will meet on Thursday to discuss the matter.

DPRK

Strategic cruise missile test-fired

The Missile Administration of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Wednesday test-fired for the first time a new type of strategic cruise missile, "Pulhwasal-3-31"which is under development, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Thursday. The test-firing had no impact on the security of neighboring countries and has nothing to do with the regional situation, the report said.

JAPAN

Man gets death penalty for arson attack in 2019

A Japanese man found guilty of carrying out an arson attack that killed 36 people at an anime studio in 2019 was sentenced to death on Thursday. Shinji Aoba, now 45, broke into the building, spread gasoline around the ground floor, lit it and shouted "drop dead" on the morning of July 18, 2019, survivors said.

Agencies - Xinhua