A Russian Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane reported to be carrying more than 70 people has crashed in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, Kremlin state media has claimed.
State news agency RIA quoted the Russian defence ministry as claiming the plane was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), alongside six crew members and three other people, when it crashed. They did not provide any evidence.
Video posted on the Telegram messenger app by Baza, a channel linked to Russian security services, showed a large aircraft falling towards the ground and exploding in a vast fireball.
Other video footage shared on social media showed a plane going down near the village of Yablonovo, about 30 miles from the Ukraine border, followed by an explosion, at around 11am local time (8am GMT).
A local Church rector in the area told Tass that the plane “fell in a field behind the village”, adding that there was no damage to the village itself.
The authorities were investigating the cause of the crash, and a special military commission was on the way to the crash site, the Russian defence ministry said.
Ukraine’s national Pravda outlet, citing its sources in the military, said they had been carrying out an operation in the area and that the plane was carrying S-300 anti-aircraft missiles when it was shot down.
The Ukrainian defence ministry later said it was “still clarifying information” about the crash.
Photos allegedly from the crash site, published by Russian outlet 112, show chunks of the plane scattered across a snowy field.
Andrey Kartapolov, chair of the Russian defence committee in the State Duma, has since told Shot, another Russian state media outlet, that “now there can be no talk of prisoner exchanges”.
The Il-76 is a military transport aircraft designed to airlift troops, cargo, military equipment and weapons. It has a normal crew of five people, and can carry up to 90 passengers.
Local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that an unspecified “incident” had occurred in the region’s Korochansky district, northeast of Belgorod city, and that he was going to inspect the site. He said investigators and emergency workers were already on the scene.
The Kremlin said that it was looking into the situation.
The Belgorod region has come under frequent attack from Ukraine in recent months, including a December missile strike which killed 25 people.
Earlier on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a major Russian missile attack that apparently was devised to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses had killed 18 people and injured 130. Ukraine is marking the 700th day since the full-scale invasion by Kremlin’s forces started.
The barrage employing more than 40 ballistic, cruise, anti-aircraft and guided missiles early Tuesday hit 130 residential buildings in three Ukrainian cities, “all ordinary houses,” Mr Zelensky said on X, formerly Twitter.
The Ukrianian Air Force has been approached for comment.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
