A Russian Il-76 military transport plane with 65 Ukrainian prisoners on board crashed today in the border region of Belgorod, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Telegram. The military note said that the plane, which also carried six crew members and three Russian soldiers, was carrying prisoners to be exchanged for Russian soldiers of the Ukrainian army, Efe reports.
Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said he was aware of an “incident” but gave no further details. A video shared on social media showed a plane crash near the town of Jablonowo at around 11:00 a.m. local time (0800 GMT), followed by an explosion.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin was aware of the accident but declined to go into details. Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash and a special military commission is on its way to the crash site, the Defense Ministry said.