A Russian plane allegedly transporting captured Ukrainian soldiers crashed Wednesday near a residential area, video reportedly shows.
The military aircraft crashed in western Russian’s Belgorod region, Russian officials said, according to ABC News.
Belgorod/ Bilhorod PR ❗
Big Bavovna ✈️💥🔥🔥🔥💨
Il-76 military plane crashed in Belgorod region according to russian media. The moment of the plane crash in the BNR was caught on camera. According to russian media, there were 63 people on board Il-76. Their fate is being… pic.twitter.com/57ZCU43S0E— LX (@LXSummer1) January 24, 2024
All passengers aboard the flight died in the crash, Belgorod’s governor said, according to CNBC. Russia blamed Ukraine for the incident, and many Russian lawmakers accused Ukraine of shooting down the aircraft with the kinds of missiles that have been supplied to Ukraine by Western nations.
The Ukrainian soldiers onboard were traveling to a planned prisoner swap in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement, ABC News reported.
Six crew members and three “accompanying persons” also traveled aboard the Il-76 flight, the Ministry of Defense said, according to the outlet. The Ilyushin Il-76 is a Soviet-era military transport aircraft designed to carry heavy equipment, weapons and cargo. (RELATED: US Voters View Ukraine-Russia War As Stalemate For First Time, Survey Says)
Sources in Ukraine’s military told a Ukrainian outlet that the plane was carrying missiles, not prisoners.
The White House has placed pressure on Congress to allocate more funds for foreign aid to Ukraine as the legislative body battles over backing the country in its ongoing war with Russia.
More than $1 billion in weapons provided to Ukraine under the Biden administration have been improperly tracked by U.S. defense and diplomatic officials, an inspector’s general report found earlier this year.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with a reported comment from the Ukrainian military.
