Moscow [Russia], January 25: The Russian Defence Ministry accused Ukrainian forces of shooting down a Russian military transport plane, killing all 74 people on board, including dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
There were 65 Ukrainian prisoners, six crew members, and three guards accompanying the POWs on the Russian military's Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft went it went down over the Belgorod region near Ukraine, the ministry said.
"All occupants on board have died," Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Moscow said the Ukrainians were being taken to a planned prisoner exchange.
Footage circulating on social media purportedly showed the moment of the crash, with a fireball seen in the distance and then a huge black cloud rising into the sky. The plane was said to have gone down about 50 kilometres north-east of Belgorod city and around 50 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.
The Russian Defence Ministry and other officials quickly pointed the finger at Ukraine.
"The Ukrainian leadership was well aware of the planned prisoner exchange and was informed about how the prisoners would be transported," said Andrei Kartapolov, head of the State Duma's defence committee in Moscow.
A total of 192 Ukrainians were to be exchanged for 192 Russian prisoners, he said, with to operation to have involved three transport planes. The exchange has now been called off, he said. Without providing evidence, Kartapolov said that the plane had been shot down by three US or German anti-aircraft missiles.
Ukrainian officials have yet to confirm or deny Russia's claims about the crash, and there were contradictory reports in the local media.
The news portal Ukrainska Pravda (Ukrainian Truth) cited military sources as saying that the Ukrainian side had confirmed the crash.
According to information from the General Staff cited by the report, the Russian aircraft was carrying S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to the front line.
Originally, Ukrainska Pravda had also reported that the Ukrainian military had spoken of the aircraft being shot down. This version was then changed.
The Ukrainian coordination centre for prisoners of war did not comment on the incident. All information is being collected and analysed, the centre said on Telegram.
Ukraine has been fending off a full-scale Russian invasion for almost two years: Wednesday marks the 700th day of war.
Source: Qatar Tribune
