Russian plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war crashes, killing everyone on board

Russia said on Wednesday that an IL-76 military transport plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners had crashed in the western Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine, killing everyone on board.

Unverified videos on social media showed a large plane, purportedly in the Belgorod region, falling from the sky on its side before crashing in a fireball.

Moscow's defence ministry said the plane had crashed at around 0800 GMT "during a routine flight."

"On board were 65 captured Ukrainian army servicemen being transported to the Belgorod region for exchange, six crew members and three escorts," it added.

Six Russian Crew Members

Russian state media said six Russian crew members and three guards were on the Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane which was shot down near the Russian city of Belgorod near the Ukrainian border.

"It was absolutely deliberate. They knew very well that the plane was en route, where it was going and the operators of (Ukrainian) surface-to-air missile systems cannot mistake transport planes for military planes or helicopters as targets," Andrei Kartapolov, a lawmaker in Russia's parliament and a retired general, said in a TV interview with the SHOT outlet. "It was done deliberately to sabotage the prisoner exchange."

Smoke rises from the scene of a warplane crash near Yablonovo, Belgorod region, on Wednesday. AP

Kartapolov, who still has close links to the defence ministry, said the plane had been shot down by three missiles of either US of German manufacture.

If the details are confirmed, it would be the deadliest incident of the almost two-year-old war inside Russia's internationally recognised borders.

Ukraine's defence ministry did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment. It was cited by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency as saying it did not have any reliable information for now but would share it when it did.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian presidential adviser, told Reuters: "Comments will come a little later. Time is needed to clarify all the data."

Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda initially cited military sources as saying Kyiv had shot down the plane because it was carrying S-300 missiles, but later corrected the story saying that information had not been confirmed by other sources.

Video posted on the Telegram messaging app by Baza, a channel linked to Russian security services, and verified by Reuters, showed a large aircraft falling towards the ground near the village of Yablonovo in the Belgorod region and exploding in a vast fireball.

In Kyiv, local media initially cited sources in the Ukrainian security services as saying that its army had downed the plane, and that it was transporting missiles. But media outlets later retracted the claim.

Ukrainian rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, who is among officials responsible for prison exchanges, later said his office was probing the incident.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of Belgorod region, said everyone on board the plane had been killed and that the plane had come down in the region's Korochansky district, northeast of the city of Belgorod.

He said investigators and emergency workers were already on the scene.

The Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, has come under frequent attack from Ukraine in recent months, including a December missile strike which killed 25 people.

Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament, said the chamber would prepare an appeal to the US Congress and the German Bundestag "so their lawmakers at last can see clearly who they are financing, who they are helping."

"They (Ukraine) shot down their own soldiers in mid-air. Their mothers, wives and children were waiting for them. They took a decision and shot down our defenceless pilots on a military transport plane, who were carrying out a humanitarian mission, with American and German rockets," said Volodin.

The Il-76 is a military transport aircraft designed to airlift troops, cargo, military equipment and weapons. It usually has a crew of five, and can carry up to 90 passengers.

The Kremlin said in response to a reporter's question that it was looking into the situation.

Agencies