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Russian military plane carrying 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers for prisoner exchange crashes, all killed; Moscow blames Kyiv

Russian military plane carrying 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers for prisoner exchange crashes, all killed; Moscow blames Kyiv

The Russian plane crashed near the village of Yablonovo in the Korocha District of Belgorod.

Business Today Desk
Business Today Desk
  • Updated Jan 24, 2024 5:38 PM IST
Russian military plane carrying 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers for prisoner exchange crashes, all killed; Moscow blames KyivA Russian military plane crashed near the Ukrainian border

A Russian military plane carrying 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers to a prisoner exchange crashed near the Ukrainian border, Russian state media TASS reported on Wednesday. The region's governor said all those on board were killed. Six Russian crew members and three guards were also on the Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane, which was shot down near the Russian city of Belgorod, the state media said.

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Moscow accused Kyiv of deliberately shooting down the military transport plane carrying captured Ukrainian soldiers to a prisoner exchange.

Andrei Kartapolov, a lawmaker in Russia's parliament and a retired general, said that it was absolutely a deliberate act. "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," Kartapolov was quoted as saying by Reyters. "It was done deliberately to sabotage the prisoner exchange."

Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said everyone on board the plane had been killed and that the plane had come down in the region's Korochansky district. 

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Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of the lower house of Russian parliament, said 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."

According to CNN, the Ukrainian government agency that looks after prisoners of war said it was investigating the claims made by Moscow. It warned that Russia was “actively conducting information special operations against Ukraine aimed at destabilizing Ukrainian society.”

However, Igor Sushko, a social media user, said the reports of Ukrainian POWs being on board the plane was "false". "The mammoth IL-76 military transport plane was shot down AFTER takeoff  just 30 miles from the Ukrainian border. The Russians' claim that Ukrainian POWs were on board the plane for the exchange that was to take place at the border in the same region is absurd," he said. 

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Sushko said Russia's Ministry of Defense and FSB have taken control of the plane crash site and blocked access to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, which would be typically involved in such investigations. He claimed that the plane's flight history also did not align with Russia's claim that it was transporting Ukrainian POWs toward an exchange point. "The plane last arrived in Belgorod from Iran, and was shot down after take off from Belgorod heading northeast."

  

Published on: Jan 24, 2024 5:14 PM IST
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