This Wednesday, January 24, a Russian Il-76 military transport plane, carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, crashed in the Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry announced. Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Russian Duma, accused kyiv of having shot down the aircraft.
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” Towards 11 a.m. (Moscow time), an Il-76 plane crashed in the Belgorod region […] On board were 65 captured soldiers of the Ukrainian army, transported to the Belgorod region for exchange, six crew members and three attendants “, indicated the Russian Ministry of Defense. “ An Air Force commission went to the site of the plane crash to establish the causes of the disaster. “, he added. Images circulating on social networks show a device falling almost steeply, before a large explosion, accompanied by flames and black smoke.
The Russian ministry has not given any indication at this stage as to the fate of the plane’s occupants. Questioned during his daily press briefing, the Kremlin spokesperson did not comment, noting the character too “ recent ” some information. “ We’re going to clear this up “, he said.
The President of the Russian Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, did not wait to accuse Kiev, just a few minutes after the announcement of the disaster, of having shot down the plane transporting these prisoners with a view, according to Moscow, to ‘an exchange. “ They killed their own soldiers in the air. Their mothers, their children were waiting for them », he proclaimed in the hemicycle. “ They shot down our pilots who were carrying out a humanitarian mission […] with American and German missiles “, he continued.
Several air disasters
Since the start of its offensive against Ukraine, Russia has experienced several air disasters involving army aircraft. Ukraine has shot down Russian aircraft in the past. It thus claimed last week to have shot down an A-50 spy plane (Russian equivalent of Western AWACS) and destroyed an Il-22 command plane.
Finally, the plane carrying the leader of the Wagner armed group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, crashed in August 2023 during a flight between Moscow and St. Petersburg, killing him and his main lieutenants a few weeks after an aborted mutiny. Russian authorities then denied any involvement and estimated that the plane may have crashed because its passengers detonated a grenade on board.
(With AFP)
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