A Russian Defense Ministry plane, transporting 65 Ukrainian military prisoners along with nine crew members and guards, has crashed in the Belgorod region near the Ukraine border.

Moscow's Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday through Telegram that the IL-76 aircraft went down during the planned exchange of prisoners with Ukraine. The Telegram message apparently showed a large aircraft falling towards the ground and exploding in a vast fireball.

❌ A Russian military aircraft, Il-76, has crashed in the Belgorod region.

Preliminary, there were 63 people on board the aircraft.

The aircraft supposedly was transporting missiles for the S-300 systems, with which the Russians are shelling the Kharkiv region. pic.twitter.com/f7TpymPVSP

— Maria Drutska ?? (@maria_drutska) January 24, 2024

Local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that an unspecified “incident” had occurred in the region’s Korochansky district, northeast of Belgorod city, and that he was going to inspect the site. Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, has come under frequent attack from Ukraine in recent months, including a December missile strike which killed 25 people.

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