Moscow said Russia accused Ukraine of shooting down a Russian military aircraft over a border region with Ukraine on Wednesday, killing all on board, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners who were due to be exchanged later in the day.
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Ukrainian leaders did not immediately respond to Moscow's accusations and to the tragedy that occurred near the Russian village of Yablonovo, 45 kilometers from their shared border. One official urged people “not to jump to conclusions.”
“At 11:15 a.m. (8:15 a.m. GMT), the Ukrainian regime in Kiev carried out a terrorist attack by shooting down a Russian military transport plane flying from Chkalovksiï airfield (near Moscow, editor's note) to Belgorod to transport Ukrainians “Soldiers are invited for exchange,” a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry said.
According to the Russian ministry, the Ukrainian army knew “perfectly well” that the Russians would take the Ukrainian prisoners by plane to Belgorod and then to a meeting point at the border.
According to this source, the Ukrainians from the Kharkiv region (northeast) fired “two missiles” from an “air defense system” in order to shoot down the Il-76 military transport aircraft and then “blame Russia.” .
The 65 Ukrainian prisoners who Moscow said were on board, as well as the crew of six and three Russian soldiers, were “killed,” the ministry added.
“A very loud noise”
Images circulating on social media showed the device falling almost steeply before a large explosion occurred on the ground, accompanied by flames and black smoke.
“We heard a very loud noise and went outside,” said Maria Mezentseva, a Yablonovo resident who witnessed the crash. “There was a fire.”
The Belgorod region is very regularly attacked by Ukrainian missiles and drones due to its proximity to the border and in response to the multiple Russian bombings in Ukraine, which the Russian army attacked on February 24, 2022.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had previously promised to “clarify” the circumstances of the crash.
However, other Russian officials did not wait for the Russian army's official communication to comment on the crash, all pointing the finger at Ukraine.
“They killed their own soldiers in the air,” their President Vyacheslav Volodin told the Russian Duma and assured, without providing evidence, that “American and German missiles” had been used.
“Don’t jump to conclusions”
Ukrainian authorities contacted by AFP have not commented on the incident at this time.
So far, only Ukraine's human rights commissioner in charge of the prisoner exchange has spoken about the disaster, saying he wants to wait for “all the details.”
“I appeal to the media and Ukrainian citizens not to draw hasty conclusions,” demanded Dmytro Loubinets on social networks. “The enemy is treacherous. We all know the methods Russia uses to destabilize society.”
According to Kiev, more than 8,000 Ukrainians, including more than 1,600 civilians, are currently in Russian captivity.
Already in July 2022, Russians and Ukrainians had accused each other of carrying out a deadly bomb attack on a prison housing Ukrainian prisoners in Olenivka, a Russian-occupied village in eastern Ukraine.
Russia has also experienced several aviation disasters involving army aircraft since the start of its attack on Ukraine.
Ukraine last week claimed to have shot down an A-50 spy plane (Russian equivalent of the Western AWACS) and destroyed an Il-22 command aircraft.
In Russia, the plane carrying the leader of the Wagner armed group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, exploded in mid-air during a flight between Moscow and Saint Petersburg in August 2023, killing him and his captains, just weeks after an aborted mutiny angered Vladimir Putin.
Russian authorities denied any involvement and said the plane may have crashed because its passengers detonated a grenade on board.