Russian military plane carrying 65 Ukrainian POWs crashes in Belgorod

Russian military plane carrying 65 Ukrainian POWs crashed in Belgorod on Wednesday.

Following the incident, Russia accused Ukraine of deliberately shooting down a Russian military transport plane carrying 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers to a prisoner exchange in what it called a barbaric act of terrorism that had killed a total of 74 people on board.

The Russian defence ministry in a statement said that six Russian crew members and three Russian soldiers had been on the Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane shot down near the Russian city of Belgorod near the Ukrainian border.

“The Ukrainian leadership was well aware that, following established practice, Ukrainian servicemen would be transported by military transport aircraft to the Belgorod airfield today to be exchanged,” a ministry statement said.

“According to an earlier agreement, this event was to take place in the afternoon at the Kolotilovka checkpoint on the Russian-Ukrainian border,” it added.

Russia’s foreign ministry called the shooting down “a barbaric act” adding, “By committing this terrorist act, the Ukrainian leadership has shown its true face. It disregarded the lives of its own citizens.”

A video initially shared on the Telegram messenger app a channel linked to Russian security services, is now doing rounds on social media, showed a large aircraft falling towards the ground and exploding in a fireball.