Russia says an IL-76 military transport plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war crashed in the western Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine.
Unverified videos on social media show a large plane, purportedly in the Belgorod region, falling from the sky on its side before crashing in a fireball.
“At around 11 am Moscow time (0800 GMT), an IL-76 aircraft crashed in the Belgorod region during a routine flight,” Moscow’s defense ministry is quoted as saying by the RIA-Novosti news agency.
“On board were 65 captured Ukrainian army servicemen being transported to the Belgorod region for exchange, six crew members and three escorts,” it says.
The claim could not be immediately verified, and the fate of the passengers was not immediately clear.
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