Russian defence ministry says cause of crash is unknown but says plane was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war
Sources in Ukraine’s general staff say its armed forces shot down the Russian Ilyushin-76 military plane which crashed this morning in Belgorod, killing 63 people on board. According to Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper, quoting defence sources, the plane was delivering S-300 anti-aircraft missiles used in recent devastating attacks on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city. Eighteen people died in a wave of Russian strikes yesterday, including a nine-year-0ld girl and her mother, buried under rubble in their Kharkiv apartment.
Russia’s defence ministry claimed that the flight was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, who were about to be exchanged. They were killed, together with 6 Russian crew and “three accompanying persons”, the Moscow news agency Tass reported.
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