A Russian plane with 65 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian army crashed in a border area of Ukraine leaving no survivors. It involved a Russian military transport aircraft Il-76, which was going to Belgorod to carry out a possible prisoner exchange.

The authorities of Russia They attributed the accident to an attack by Ukraine, as Belgorod is a regular target of Ukrainian missiles and drones.

“Around 11 a.m. Moscow time (08:00 GMT), an Il-76 aircraft crashed in the Belgorod region,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said on the border with Ukraine in a statement cited by local authorities.

“On board were 65 prisoners of the Ukrainian army, transferred to the Belgorod region for the purpose of an exchange, six crew members and three companions,” he indicated.

“Everyone on board died” said the region’s governor, Viacheslav Gladkov, shortly afterwards.

The Speaker of Russia’s House of Commons, Viacheslav Volodin, quickly accused Ukraine of trying to shoot down the plane.

“They killed their own soldiers in the air. Their mothers and their children were waiting for them,” he said during a plenary session. “They shot down our pilots who were carrying out a humanitarian mission (…) with American and German missiles,” he added.

Another deputy, chairman of the Defense Committee in the same chamber, joined these accusations.

“Ukrainian leaders were fully aware of the upcoming exchange and were informed about how the prisoners would be transferred,” Andrei Kartapolov said, according to Russian media.

“The Il-76 aircraft was shot down by three missiles from a Patriot or Iris-T surface-to-air missile system manufactured in Germany,” he stated.

Since the beginning of the offensive against Ukraine Russia has suffered several air disasters involving military aircraft.

In the past, Ukraine has shot down Russian aircraft. Last week, Kiev claimed to have destroyed an A-50 spy plane and an Il-22 command plane. However, he has not yet commented on the recent accident. (JO)