Russia reported on Wednesday that an IL-76 military transport plane, carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), crashed in the western Belgorod region, near the Ukraine border.
According to the AFP, unverified videos circulating on social media depict a large plane descending from the sky on its side before crashing in a fireball.
The Moscow defense ministry informed Russian news agencies, stating, “At around 11 a.m. Moscow time (0800 GMT), an IL-76 aircraft crashed in the Belgorod region during a routine flight. On board were 65 captured Ukrainian army servicemen. They were being transported to the Belgorod region for exchange, six crew members, and three escorts.”
Verification of Russia’s claim and the fate of the passengers remain uncertain at this time.
Vyacheslav Volodin, the top lawmaker in Russia’s lower house of parliament, asserted that the plane had been “shot down” by Kyiv and blamed Western missiles. He stated during a plenary session, “They shot their own soldiers in the air. Their own. Our pilots, who were carrying out a humanitarian mission, were shot down.”