The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the plane crashed on Wednesday morning in the Belgorod region on the Russia-Ukraine border.
A Russian military plane crashed on the border between Ukraine and Russia, and the Russian government said there were 65 Ukrainian prisoners on board.
The country’s Ministry of Defense confirmed that an Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane crashed. Russia Belgorod city on Wednesday morning.
“They are [the prisoners of war] It was being transported to the Belgorod region for exchange,” he added.
There were also six crew members and three other people on board.
In a statement later posted on Telegram, the Defense Ministry blamed Kiev for the crash and classified it as a “terrorist attack.”
“The aircraft was destroyed by the Ukrainian military from the Liptsi region of Kharkiv region using an anti-aircraft missile system,” the ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine has yet to confirm or deny its involvement or the presence of prisoners on board, and has urged its citizens “not to spread unconfirmed information.”
Ukraine war latest information: military plane crashes in Russia
Retired General Andrei Kartapolov, a member of the Russian parliament, claimed that the incident involved a type of missile supplied to Russia. ukraine According to Western countries, the news agency Reuters reported.
Kartapolov did not identify the source of the information and said an investigation would determine whether the missile was a Patriot or IRIS-T.
He said this during a morning call with reporters. President Vladimir Putin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he did not have enough information about the crash to comment.
Andriy Yusov, director of Ukraine’s Intelligence Directorate, told Ukrainian news outlet Radio Liberty that a planned prisoner exchange with Russia after the crash “is not currently taking place.”
According to the Ministry of Defense, the Russian Aerospace Forces Committee “flew to the crash site to determine the cause of the accident.”
Mr. Skye Defense and security analyst Professor Michael ClarkeThe plane that crashed over Belgorod appeared to be “integrated”, casting doubt on Russia’s claims.
He said footage of the crash shows “the plane was completely integrated.”
“If three missiles had hit it, as the Russians initially said, it would not have been completely destroyed,” he said.
Belgorod, a region along the Russia-Ukraine border, has come under several attacks in the past few months.
Early Wednesday morning, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky A massive Russian missile attack apparently designed to overwhelm the country’s air defenses killed 18 people and injured 130, it said.
Early Tuesday morning, a barrage of more than 40 ballistic, cruise, anti-aircraft and guided missiles hit 130 residential buildings in three Ukrainian cities, “all civilian homes,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with X (previously said on Twitter).
The airstrikes also targeted the capital Kiev and Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkiv.
Russia denies targeting civilians.
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This was in response to Ukraine’s assertion that shot down two expensive Russian aircraft Early this month.
The Ukrainian military announced that an A-50 reconnaissance plane, one of several early warning and control aircraft in the Russian fleet, and an Ilyushin Il-22 airborne command post were destroyed.
Ukrainian government adviser Anton Gerashchenko said both were shot off the coast of Azov.
Officials estimate the A-50, which typically carries a crew of 15, is worth about 260 million pounds ($330 million).
