Russian military plane crashes near Ukrainian border: Captured Ukrainian army person likely dead

New Delhi: A Russian Ilyushin-76 military transport plane crashed in the southern Belgorod region, close to the Ukrainian border. The Russian Defence Ministry has confirmed the crash, revealing that the aircraft was carrying 65 captured Ukrainian army servicemen for a planned exchange, along with six crew members and three escorts.

According to Russia's defence ministry, the plane was en route to the Belgorod region when the crash occurred. Ria Novosti news agency reported that a total of nine people were on board, including the six crew members.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's general staff, as quoted by the Ukrainska Pravda website, made no mention of prisoners of war and claimed that the plane was transporting missiles for Russia's S-300 air defence systems.

Videos shared on social media depict the plane descending, followed by a fiery explosion near the village of Yablonovo, approximately 70km northeast of Belgorod, at around 11:00 local time.

Initial reports from some Ukrainian media outlets suggested the possibility of Ukrainian forces downing the Il-76, but these claims were later deleted. Ukraine's general staff informed BBC Ukrainian that they lacked accurate information and were actively investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.

BBC said that Andrei Kartapolov, the chairman of Russia's parliamentary defence committee, asserted that a second plane carrying 80 Ukrainian prisoners was in the air but changed course. He emphasized that any further discussions about prisoner exchanges were now off the table.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged the crash but refrained from providing detailed information. A nationwide air raid alert was briefly implemented across Ukraine following news of the Il-76 crash.

Belgorod, located approximately 40km north of the Ukrainian border, has witnessed numerous casualties from air strikes and drones since the onset of the conflict in Ukraine.

In another incident in December, an air strike resulted in 25 fatalities and 100 injuries, with Ukraine attributing the incident to Russian air defences.