RUSSIAN PLANE CARRYING 65 UKRAINIAN PRISONERS OF WAR CRASHED IN BELGOROD, MOSCOW SAYS

Wed 24 January 2024:

A Russian military cargo plane crashed in the border region of Belgorod, according to Russia’s defence ministry.

According to the ministry, the plane was transporting 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were to be swapped. The ministry further stated that the Ilyushin Il-76 was carrying six crew members and three more passengers.

AP reported that the crash occurred around 11:00am (08:00 GMT). It is not known if anyone survived.

The authorities were investigating the cause of the crash, and a special military commission was on the way to the crash site, the Defense Ministry said.

Telegram channels close to Russia’s security services said all 74 people onboard had died.

Ukraine did not immediately comment on the incident.

The Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper, citing sources, initially said Kyiv’s armed forces shot down the plane but later withdrew the report.

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov says the crash of the military aircraft took place in the Korochansky district, northeast of the regional capital.

“Now an investigation team and emergency services are working on the site. I have changed my working schedule and travelled to the district,” Gladkov said in a post on Telegram.

Everyone onboard died in crash: Belgorod governor

Vyacheslav Gladkov has stated that everybody onboard the military transport plane that crashed in the Belgorod region has died.

Posting on his Telegram channel, he noted that the plane landed in a populated area and the crash site is now cordoned off.

The Soviet-designed Ilyushin Il-76 is a military transport aircraft designed to airlift troops, cargo, military equipment and weapons.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Duma, said the plane had been “shot down” by Kyiv and blamed western missiles.

“They shot their own soldiers in the air. Their own,” Volodin told lawmakers in a plenary session. “Our pilots, who were carrying out a humanitarian mission, were shot down.”

Andrei Kartapolov, a senior lawmaker in Russia’s parliament and a retired general, said during a parliamentary session that the plane had been shot down by three missiles.

He did not reveal the source of his information. Kartapalov added that investigations would show whether the missiles were western-supplied Patriots or Iris-Ts.

Russian plane carrying 65 Ukrainian PoWs has crashed, Moscow says

Ministry says aircraft that crashed in border region of Belgorod was carrying prisoners who were to be swapped pic.twitter.com/yavjituAhv

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) January 24, 2024

Kartapalov claimed that Russia and Ukraine were to exchange 192 prisoners each on Wednesday before the plane crash.

This month the two countries announced the largest exchange of prisoners since the start of the war, involving the return of more than 200 soldiers from each side in a deal mediated by the United Arab Emirates.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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