Russian Military Transport Plane Crashes in Belgorod

A Russian military transport plane has crashed near the border region of Belgorod, resulting in the death of all 74 people on board. The plane, an Ilyushin-76, was reportedly carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were to be exchanged. The cause of the crash is yet to be determined.

Russia‘s defence ministry has accused Ukraine of intentionally shooting down the aircraft, although the Ukrainian government has not directly commented on the incident. Footage shared on social media showed the plane crashing and exploding in a massive fireball. Wreckage was scattered across a snowy field.

The Soviet-designed Ilyushin Il-76 is a military transport aircraft used for the transportation of troops, cargo, and military equipment. Russian officials and the defence ministry placed blame on Ukraine for deliberately shooting down the plane.

Ukraine’s military later released a statement accusing Russian forces of delivering missiles to the Belgorod region via military transport planes in recent weeks. The Ukrainian armed forces expressed their commitment to taking measures to combat this threat and control airspace in the Belgorod-Kharkiv direction.

The chair of the Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, claimed that the plane was shot down by Ukraine, stating that “they shot their own soldiers in the air.” Andrei Kartapolov, a retired general, suggested that the plane was hit by three missiles, without specifying their origin.

It was revealed that Russia and Ukraine had planned to exchange 192 prisoners each on the day of the crash. However, investigations into the incident will determine the cause of the plane crash and the validity of the missile claims. The Ukrainian state body responsible for prisoners of war has not confirmed or denied the downing of the aircraft.