A Russian military transport aircraft, allegedly transporting Ukrainian prisoners of war, crashed en route to the Belgorod region, which shares a border between the two nations.
Russia asserts that the Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft was brought down by hostile fire, despite prior awareness of an impending prisoner exchange. Ukrainian authorities have refrained from commenting on the incident, issuing a caution against relying on unconfirmed information.
Around 11 a.m. local time, the crash transpired approximately 44 miles northeast of Belgorod, preceding a scheduled prisoner exchange in the border region on January 24. Sparse information is available regarding the passengers and the incident’s cause, with a lack of confirmed details fueling media coverage.
Russian authorities maintain that their radar detected Ukraine’s military launching two missiles directly at the aircraft. They further claim that the opposing forces were cognizant of the scheduled flight, which officials should have been aware would carry 65 prisoners of war.
All individuals on board are said to have lost their lives in the explosion, including the six-member aircraft crew and three Russian military personnel.
Initially, certain Ukrainian news sources, as reported by BBC News, published comparable narratives, but these were subsequently removed. The official stance from Ukraine is that an investigation is ongoing, accompanied by a cautionary note about the potential dissemination of disinformation by the Kremlin regarding the incident.
Russian authorities claimed the possibility of two aircraft being in the airspace, asserting that the Ukrainian prisoners might have been on the second plane, which altered its trajectory in reaction to the attack.
Irrespective of the specifics, the planned exchange is no longer happening, and there is uncertainty regarding the feasibility of any future swaps.
At present, Russia holds approximately 8,000 Ukrainian prisoners, including civilians among them. The conflict has led to the reported disappearance of tens of thousands more individuals since its onset.
The two nations have already traded prisoners on several occasions; in the most recent exchange, 248 Russians and 230 Ukrainians were freed in the beginning of January 2024.
