© Sputnik / Mikhail VoskresenskyIL-76 military transport aircraft.
A Russian heavy transport plane carrying several dozen Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) has crashed in Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, Moscow has confirmed. Earlier, media reports suggested that all passengers and crew members on board were killed.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that an IL-76 cargo aircraft carrying 65 captured Ukrainian service members as well as six crew members and three people accompanying the POWs went down during a pre-planned flight at around 11am local time. It added that the prisoners were being transported to Belgorod region for an exchange.
Meanwhile, Ukraine-based Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper reported, citing sources in Kiev's military, that the aircraft had been destroyed by Ukrainian forces. However, the outlet reported that the plane had been carrying S-300 air defense missiles rather than prisoners.
Reader Comments
Who knows - maybe they thought it had weapons and shot it down....
maybe it did?
Maybe it had POWs.
Maybe word on that didn't get out proper.
Maybe they wanted the plane to get shot down.
Who the hell knows -
Not only tragedy happens in war
Transparency goes out the door....
what a clustereff *kraine situation is...
~
BK, Poem of the Day, 12424 1158 - 11th hour I reckon