A big Russian navy transport aircraft crashed on Wednesday within the Belgorod area close to the border with Ukraine, state information companies stated, citing an announcement by the Russian Protection Ministry. Everybody onboard was killed, the regional governor stated.
The Protection Ministry stated that the aircraft had been carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of battle who had been being transferred to the area to be exchanged for Russian service personnel. The declare couldn’t be independently verified. The aircraft was additionally carrying six crew members and three different people, the ministry stated, in response to Tass, a Russian state information company.
The governor of the Belgorod area, Vyacheslav Gladkov, stated in an announcement on social media that the aircraft had crashed in a area close to a settlement within the Korochansky district and that there have been no survivors. He stated that emergency providers had been on the web site and had been investigating.
The reason for the crash was not instantly clear.
A video posted to Telegram and verified by The Occasions confirmed a big aircraft crashing and exploding in Yablonovo, a city within the Korochansky district.
Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s navy intelligence company, stated in an interview with Radio Liberty that his nation was trying into Russia’s assertions that prisoners of battle had been onboard. And he stated: “I can state that the trade deliberate for at this time is at the moment not going down,” with out elaborating.
Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, declined to touch upon the crash experiences, telling journalists that the data was nonetheless “too contemporary.” The Russian Air Pressure command dispatched a bunch to the scene of the crash to attempt to decide the trigger, in response to the Protection Ministry assertion.
The aircraft, an Il-76, was designed many years in the past within the Soviet Union to carry out navy duties akin to airlifting troops, cargo and weapons.
Andrei Kartapolov, a Russian lawmaker, stated at a session of the State Duma, the decrease home of Parliament, that the Il-76 had been shot down by three Ukrainian missiles. He didn’t present any proof for his declare, and it couldn’t be independently verified.
The Belgorod area of Russia has an extended border with Ukraine. Over the previous few weeks, it has been the scene of frequent Ukrainian assaults, together with a missile bombardment in December. It was additionally the staging floor for Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and for additional Russian strikes towards Ukrainian territory in the course of the battle.
Russia and Ukraine have been exchanging prisoners for the reason that begin of the battle via offers brokered by a third-party, such because the Turkey or the United Arab Emirates. These offers have been very sophisticated, with the perimeters meticulously negotiating each element.
In early January, after an extended pause in exchanges that adopted the discharge in Turkey of 5 former commanders of Ukraine’s garrison within the Azovstal metal plant, which angered Moscow, Russia and Ukraine performed the biggest trade of prisoners for the reason that begin of the battle.
Andrew E. Kramer contributed reporting.
