'Kyiv shot down plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war'

NEW DELHI: Russia on Wednesday accused Ukraine of shooting down military plane, killing all 74 people aboard, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs).
The

Russian defense ministry

has stated that the POWs were being transported to the

Belgorod region

for a prisoner exchange.
Ukrainian officials have not commented on the crash as yet but officials in Kyiv have urged caution in sharing unverified information.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the top lawmaker in Russia's lower house of parliament, claimed the plane had been shot down by Kyiv and blamed Western missiles.

"They shot their own soldiers in the air. Their own," Volodin told lawmakers in a plenary session. "Our pilots, who were carrying out a humanitarian mission, were shot down."
The crash occurred in the Korochansky district, northeast of the region's capital, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on social media.
"Everyone on board died," he wrote in a later post.
Il-76 transport, carried a crew of six and three additional passengers, apart from the 65 POWs, to the Russian defense ministry adding that Russian radar detected the launch of two Ukrainian missiles from Ukraine's bordering Kharkiv region towards Belgorod.

The Russian defence ministry has labeled this attack as "a terrorist act."
Disturbing footage of the crash has been circulating on social media, showing the plane plunging from the sky in a snowy, rural area, followed by a massive explosion upon impact.
Emergency services, including firefighters, ambulances, and police, swiftly arrived at the scene in the Korochansky district of Belgorod.
The Il-76 aircraft is primarily designed to transport up to 225 troops, military equipment, and weapons, as per Russia's military export agency. The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has reached a static front line spanning 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) during its second winter of conflict.
Both sides have been focused on replenishing their weapons stockpiles, leading to increased long-range strikes.
In a separate incident, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently said that a major Russian missile attack had resulted in the deaths of 18 people and injuries to 130 others.
Over 40 ballistic, cruise, anti-aircraft, and guided missiles struck 130 residential buildings in three Ukrainian cities. Zelenskyy described these targeted locations as "ordinary houses."
(With agency inputs)