Moscow(Russia): Russia's Defence Ministry on Wednesday accused Ukrainian forces of shooting down a military transport plane, killing all 74 people aboard, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war being swapped.
Ukrainian officials did not immediately confirm or deny Russia's claims about the crash in Russia's Belgorod border region, although they said they were looking into them. The Associated Press could not confirm who was aboard or other details on what brought the plane down. Throughout the 700-day war, Russia and Ukraine have traded conflicting accusations, and establishing the facts has often been difficult, both because of the constraints of a war zone and because each side tightly controls information.
Video of the crash posted on social media showed a plane falling from the sky in a snowy, rural area, and a massive ball of fire erupting where it apparently hit the ground. In addition to the 65 POWs, the Il-76 transport carried a crew of six and three other passengers, the Russian military said. According to the statement, Russian radar registered the launch of two missiles from Ukraine's Kharkiv region that borders the Belgorod region. The ministry did not provide evidence for its claim.
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⚡️An Ilyushin Il-76 military plane reportedly crashed in the #Belgorod region of Russia, as reported by Russian Telegram channels.
— KyivPost (@KyivPost) January 24, 2024 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
There is no official information about the incident yet. pic.twitter.com/N2IdHdGfQZ
">⚡️An Ilyushin Il-76 military plane reportedly crashed in the #Belgorod region of Russia, as reported by Russian Telegram channels.
— KyivPost (@KyivPost) January 24, 2024
There is no official information about the incident yet. pic.twitter.com/N2IdHdGfQZ⚡️An Ilyushin Il-76 military plane reportedly crashed in the #Belgorod region of Russia, as reported by Russian Telegram channels.
— KyivPost (@KyivPost) January 24, 2024
There is no official information about the incident yet. pic.twitter.com/N2IdHdGfQZ
Firefighters, ambulances and police rushed to the site in the Korochansky district of Belgorod, state news agency Tass reported, citing a local emergency services official. The Russian military said the POWs were being flown to the region for a prisoner swap when the plane was downed at 11:15 am local time (0815 GMT, 3:15 am EST).
The Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman, Andrii Yusov, confirmed to the media that a prisoner swap was to happen Wednesday but was not going ahead. He said the agency is checking whether Ukrainian POWs were on the plane. The plane was headed to the Belgorod region from the Chkalovsky air field in the Moscow region, and the POW swap was scheduled to take place at the Kolotilovka crossing on the Russian-Ukrainian border, the statement read. The crossing is about 135 km (85 miles) west of the village of Yablonovo, near where the plane fell.
Russian officials and lawmakers expressed outrage and questioned whether there should be further prisoner swaps. The most recent one, brokered by the United Arab Emirates, took place this month and was the biggest to date, with 230 Ukrainian POWs returning home and 248 Russians released. It was the first in almost five months and 49th since the war began.
Ukraine's Kharkiv region and Russia's Belgorod region have long been a focus of the fighting, especially involving airstrikes with missiles and drones. Russia has largely ensured its air dominance during the war against Ukraine's fleet of Soviet-era warplanes. But Russia has suffered a series of crashes that some observers have attributed to a higher number of flights amid the fighting in Ukraine.