Russian Military Plane Crashes In Belgorod, Transports 65 Prisoners Of War That Will Follow Exchange With Ukraine

Illushin IL-76 aircraft illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Alexander Yamampolsky)

JAKARTA - An Ilyushin-76 military transport plane crashed in the Belgorod Region on Wednesday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

It said the plane that crashed carried 65 Ukrainian war prisoners, six crew members and three bodyguards.

"On January 24 this year an Ilyushin-76 transport plane crashed in the Belgorod Region during a scheduled flight around 11.00 Moscow time," the Russian Ministry of Defense said, launching TASS January 24.

"There were 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were transferred to the Belgorod Region for exchange and three bodyguards on board," the ministry continued.

Earlier, the Governor of Belgorod Region said on his Telegram channel the incident occurred in Korocha District. He did not explain further. A team of investigators and personnel of the Ministry of Emergency are working at the crash site.

Meanwhile, the Russian Air Force is said to have sent an investigative panel to investigate the incident.

Separately, Andrei Kartapolov, a Russian lawmaker and retired general, said at a parliamentary hearing the plane was shot down by three missiles. However, he did not mention what the source of the information was.

"They shot their own soldiers in the air. Their own soldiers," he said in a plenary hearing, quoted by The National News.

"Our pilot, who was on a humanitarian mission, was shot down," he continued.

It is known, Il-76 is a type of military transport aircraft designed to transport troops, cargo, military equipment, and weapons. Usually it has five crew members and can carry up to 90 passengers.

The Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, has often been attacked by Ukraine in recent months, including a missile strike in December that killed 25 people.