An IL-76 Russian military transport plane has crashed in the western Belgorod region.
According to report by the RIA-Novosti news agency, “At around 11 am Moscow time (0800 GMT), an IL-76 aircraft crashed in the Belgorod region during a routine flight.”
The tragedy which happened on Wednesday has been on unverified videos on social media. It showed a large plane, purportedly in the Belgorod region, falling from the sky on its side before crashing in a fireball. It carried Ukrainian war prisoners whose fate was not immediately ascertained.
Moscow’s defence ministry was quoted as saying, “On board were 65 captured Ukrainian army servicemen being transported to the Belgorod region for exchange, six crew members and three escorts.”
Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov allegedly said on Telegram that the crash occurred in the Korochansky district, northeast of the region’s capital.
“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 defence forces as saying that its armed forces downed the plane and that it was transporting missiles.
