Moscow: A heavy-lift military transport aircraft carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) crashed in the border region of Russia’s Belgorod.
Russia said there are no survivors in the crash.
The POWs were being transported for a swap agreement.
“At around 11 am Moscow time (1.30 pm IST), an IL-76 aircraft crashed in the Belgorod region during a routine flight. On board were 65 captured Ukrainian army servicemen who were being transported to Belgorod region for exchange, six crew members and three escorts,” AFP reported quoting Russian defence ministry.
A video of the crash has gone viral on social media.
Shot from a distance, the clip shows the aircraft losing altitude and heading towards the ground.
Watch the 27-second video posted on X:
WATCH: A Russian Ilyushin-76 military transport plane has crashed in the southern Belgorod region bordering Ukraine
At least 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed
Pay attention to the trail in the sky at the 19th secondhttps://t.co/VHRuFiHXTe via @BBCWorld #BreakingNews pic.twitter.com/5xKyteJXk6
— Video Forensics (@Video_Forensics) January 24, 2024
According to officials, the IL-76 aircraft was out of pilot’s control and was up in flames as it crashed on its right wing near a residential area.
Even as Russia’s Parliament speaker Vyacheslav Volodin accused Ukraine of shooting down the plane carrying POWs, local media in Ukraine claimed that Russian defence forces brought down the aircraft as it was carrying missiles for the S-300 surface-air defence system, and not POWs.
Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that a probe has been launched, and an investigation team and emergency services are working round the clock at the site.
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