On the first day of the 11th session of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's Parliament), journalists and representatives from a number of civil society organisations urged the parliament to be more open to the media and society, as well as to strengthen security measures, such as shelter preparations.
Moscow said the plane had been carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were being transferred to the Belgorod region to be exchanged for Russian service personnel.
A large Russian military transport plane crashed Wednesday near the border with Ukraine killing everyone onboard, the Russian defense ministry said, accusing Ukraine of shooting down the plane with missiles.