Russian says crashed military jet with 65 Ukrainian POWs was shot down: What we know

An investigation continues into a Russian military jet crash that killed all 74 people aboard, including a reported 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, in Russia’s Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border early Wednesday.

Cause of the crash and identity of those on the jet have not been independently verified. The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian forces had used at least two missiles, either U.S. or German-made, to shoot down the Ilyushin Il-76, a large military transport.

Officials in Ukraine said they would not comment before analyzing what happened.

Russian defense officials said the Ukrainian POWs were being transported to be exchanged for captured Russian military members. That claim has not been confirmed.

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The plane crashed at about 11:15 a.m. local time, 700 days after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Emergency workers were reported at the crash site, near the town of Yablonovo, about 44 miles from Belgorod in the Russian district of Korochansky. A social media video purported to show the crash has an aircraft falling into a field and a fireball erupting seconds later.

Russian officials called the crash "a terrorist act." Ukrainska Pravda, a Ukrainian media source, said the Russian plane was shot down because it was carrying S-300 missiles but said there was "no official confirmation" of that claim.

Russian military transport plane crashes in region bordering Ukraine

A Russian Ilyushin-76 military transport plane has crashed in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine. Footage shared by SOTA News, an independent news outlet in Russia, on January 24 shows the moment the aircraft plummeted to the ground near the village of Yablonovo.

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The aircraft reportedly carried six crew members and three others who have not been identified, the Associated Press said. The plane can carry up to 225 troops, cargo, military equipment and weapons.

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged POWs since the war started. An estimated 230 Ukrainian POWs were exchanged for 248 Russians in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates in early January.

That may have been the largest such exchange and was the first in five months and the 49th since the war began.

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CONTRIBUTING Kim Hjelmgaard, Paste BN

SOURCE Paste BN Network reporting and research; Associated Press