There were 65 prisoners on board the Il-76 plane crashed in Belgorod Region. All the passengers died, Russian media reported.
The Ukrainska Pravda newspaper, citing defence ministry sources, reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) shot down the Russian Il-76 near Belgorod. It is also reported that the aircraft was allegedly carrying missiles for the S-300 systems, which Moscow used to shell Kharkiv Oblast.
The Russian Defence Ministry stated that 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war intended for exchange were on board the downed Il-76, as well as six crew members and three attendants. The official cause of the crash remains unnamed, and a commission has left for the scene for investigation.
Russian telegram channels publish photos of a suspected SAM track on the downed Il-76 near Belgorod. The day before, a missile alert was sounded in the city and the region.
The Ukrainian side has not yet made any official comments on the captives on the plane. Earlier, the Ukrainska Pravda quoted sources as saying that the plane was shot down by the AFU. Kyiv was aware of the upcoming exchange and the method of transporting the prisoners to the exchange venue, and the plane was shot down by three Patriot or Iris-T missiles, the sources claimed.
The newspaper later edited its news story, removing all mention of the shooting down of the plane and claims that it was “the work of the Ukrainian armed forces.”
Another military plane carrying 80 Ukrainian prisoners of war has turned around after the downing of the Il-76 in the Belgorod Region, the head of the State Duma’s (Russian Parliament) Defence Committee, Andrey Kartapolov, reported.
Previously, some media outlets stated that the prisoner exchange was to take place according to the 192-by-192 formula.
