Russia accuses Ukraine shooting down military plan carrying prisoners war

Moscow/Kyiv – Russia has accused Ukraine of shooting down a military plane carrying prisoners of war. The ‘Il-76’ class aircraft took off with 65 prisoners of war. A total of 74 people were present in this plane, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The plane fell in the Belgorog province on the Russia-Ukraine border, and Russia has started an investigation into the accident. A few days ago, Ukraine had claimed to have shot down two Russian ‘command and control planes’.

At around 11.15 am on Wednesday, a Russian military transport plane fell in Yablonovo village of Belgorod province. Photos and videos of a huge explosion and fire after the plane fell have been released on social media. Initially, this incident was said to be due to a technical fault. But later, Russian MPs came to the fore, claiming that Ukraine had shot down the plane.

According to information shared by local sources, a ‘missile alert’ was issued in Belgorod before the plane fell. A claim has also come to light that the Russian Defense Ministry had received information about two missiles being fired from Kharkiv province of Ukraine. The post about Ukraine’s attack on Russian aircraft has also been released on social media handles associated with Ukraine. Also, the claim that Russia had placed missiles in this plane has also been made on the mentioned handle. Nevertheless, Ukraine has not yet made an official statement on this incident.

Ukraine has heavily targeted Russia‘s Belgorod province in the past few weeks. Belgorod was being continuously attacked through drones, missiles and rockets. More than 25 people were killed in an attack last month. This attack proved to be the biggest attack ever carried out by Ukraine on Russian territory. A few days later, Ukraine claimed to have shot down two Russian military aircraft. Against this background, there are clear indications that Ukraine is behind the attack near Belgorod.