Russia accused Ukraine on Wednesday of shooting down a Russian military plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war to a prison exchange.
According to Russian defence ministry, six Russian crew members and three Russian soldiers had been on Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane that was shot down near the Russian city of Belgorod near Ukraine border.
A Russian military statement said “the Ukrainian leadership disregarded the lives of its own citizens”, as they were well aware that according to the practice, Ukrainian servicemen would be transported to the Belgorod airfield today for the exchange.
As cited by Interfax-Ukraine news agency, the Ukraine’s defence ministry did not have any reliable information for now but would share it when they could.
According to Ukrainska Pravda a Ukrainian media outlet, the plane was shot down by kyiv because it was carrying S-300 missiles, but later corrected the story by saying that information had not been confirmed by any other sources other than their military source that provided the initial information.
Russia’s foreign ministry called this shooting “a barbaric act”
Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of Belgorod region said that, all 74 people on board had been killed and the plane came blazing down in the regions of Korochansky district situated northeast of the city of Belgorod.
In the backdrop of Russia’s “special security operation” in Ukraine, the region is heavily destabilized disrupting trade exchanges and contributing to a global economic slowdown.
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