2024-02-18 00:20:08
The Il-76 crashed at approximately 11:00 local time (08:00 GMT) about 50 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has not ceased, and this was demonstrated when the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that a Russian plane crashed in the Belgorod regionnear the Ukrainian border.
There were 74 people on the Russian military transport aircraft (Ilyushin Il-76), Among them, 65 were Ukrainian prisoners of war.. And, according to the authorities, there were no survivors.
Likewise, the Russian Ministry of Defense and the president of the Duma, They publicly accused kyiv to shoot down the plane.
On the other hand, the governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkovexplained that “an investigation team and employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations are working at the scene. I changed my work schedule and went to the area“.
The two versions: what was on the Russian plane
So far the information about what or who was on board the Ilyushin IL-76 military transport Is not cleargiven that For each country there is a different version.
On the one hand, Russian media reported that on the plane 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war were traveling who were heading to Belgorod for an exchange for Russian military in the next few hours.
“The plane was hit by the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the area of the town of Liptsi, in the Kharkiv region, with the use of anti-aircraft missile systems,” denounced the Russian Ministry of Defense on his Telegram channel.
Likewise, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that Ukraine shot down the aircraftcalling it a barbaric act, reported the state news agency TASS.
Meanwhile, Ukraine claims that the Russian plane that crashed carried missiles for the S-300 air defense system.
Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmitro Lubinets told the media that “I am trying to establish the details of the incident and analyzing the information received.” Lubinets asked the media to “do not spread unreliable information” made public by Russia.
In statements to the Ukrainian media Radio Liberty, Andrí Yusov, representative of that country’s military intelligence, confirmed that a prisoner exchange had been planned today between Ukraine and Russia.