A Russian Il-76 military transport plane crashed on Wednesday January 24 in the Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine, with 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war on board, the Russian Defense Ministry announced, according to agencies Russians.
"At around 11 a.m. Moscow (8 a.m. GMT), an Il-76 plane crashed in the Belgorod region [...]. On board were 65 captured soldiers of the Ukrainian army, transported to the Belgorod region. Belgorod for an exchange, six crew members and three attendants,” the ministry said.
“An Air Force commission went to the site of the plane crash to establish the causes of the disaster,” he added.
Images circulating on social networks show a device falling steeply, then disappearing in a large explosion accompanied by flames and black smoke.
The Russian ministry has not given any indication at this stage as to the fate of the plane's occupants.
“We’re going to clear this up.”
Questioned during his daily press briefing, the Kremlin spokesperson did not comment, noting the too “recent” nature of the information.
“We’re going to clear this up,” he said.
For his part, the speaker of the Duma, the Russian parliament, accused kyiv of having shot down the aircraft.
Since the start of its offensive against Ukraine, Russia has experienced several air disasters involving army aircraft, such as that of the plane carrying the leader of the Wagner armed group, Yevgeni Prigozhin, which crashed in August 2023 during a flight between Moscow and St. Petersburg, killing him and his top lieutenants a few weeks after an abortive mutiny.
Russian authorities then denied any involvement and estimated that the plane may have crashed because its passengers detonated a grenade on board.
With AFP
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