Russia announced on Wednesday the crash of a military plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war in the Belgorod region, resulting in the fatalities of all individuals on board.
Russia said on Wednesday that an IL-76 military transport plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war crashed in the western Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine. According to Russia, there are no survivors in the crash.
Unverified videos on social media showed a large plane, purportedly in the Belgorod region, falling from the sky on its side before crashing in a fireball.
“On board were 65 captured Ukrainian army servicemen being transported to the Belgorod region for exchange, six crew members and three escorts,” Moscow’s Defense Ministry declared.
Vyacheslav Volodin, the top lawmaker in Russia’s lower house of parliament, said that the plane had been “shot down” by Kyiv and blamed Western missiles.
“They shot their own soldiers in the air. Their own,” Volodin told lawmakers in a plenary session. “Our pilots, who were carrying out a humanitarian mission, were shot down.”
The crash occurred in the Korochansky district, northeast of the region’s capital, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram.
“Now, an investigation team and emergency services are working on the site. I have changed my working schedule and traveled to the district,” Gladkov said.
There was no immediate official reaction in Kyiv, but local media cited sources in Ukraine’s defense forces as saying that its armed forces downed the plane and that it was transporting missiles. That claim was later retracted.
Katrine Dige Houmøller, with AFP
