At least 74 people, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), were killed when a Russian military transport aircraft crashed in the Belgorod region Wednesday.
Russia’s Defense Ministry has accused Ukrainian forces of shooting down the Ilyushin Il-76 plane, while Ukrainian officials have yet to comment on the crash.
In addition to the 65 POWs, the plane carried a crew of six and three other passengers, the Russian military said. According to the statement, Russian radar registered the launch of two Ukrainian missiles from Ukraine’s Kharkiv region bordering Belgorod. The ministry called the attack “a terrorist act.”
Video of the crash posted on social media showed a plane falling from the sky in a snowy, rural area, and a massive ball of fire erupting where it apparently hit the ground.
Firefighters, ambulances and police rushed to the site in the Korochansky district of Belgorod, state news agency Tass reported, citing a local emergency services official.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the POWs were being transported to the region for a prisoner exchange when the plane was downed at 11:15 a.m. local time (8:15 a.m. GMT).
The plane was en route to the Belgorod region from the Chkalovsky airfield in the Moscow region surrounding the Russian capital, and the POW swap was scheduled to take place later Wednesday at the Kolotilovka crossing on the Russian-Ukrainian border, the statement read.
