A Russian official has accused Ukraine of shooting down a military transport plane in an incident that it says killed 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) and nine others.
The Russian Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday that Ukraine had shot down the plane, an Ilyushin Il-76, which came down in the Belgorod region.
Close to the border with Ukraine, Belgorod has been targeted in recent weeks by Ukrainian air strikes. The ministry claimed, without offering evidence, that radars had detected the launch of two Ukrainian missiles.
An official at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also claimed that Ukraine had downed the aircraft, calling it a “barbaric” act.
“On board were 65 captured Ukrainian army servicemen being transported to the Belgorod region for exchange, six crew members and three escorts,” state news agency RIA Novosti quoted the Defence Ministry as saying. It did not provide any evidence for the claim.
Andrei Kartapolov, a Russian MP close to the Defence Ministry, claimed the plane was targeted by three missiles, which were either US or German-made.
Credit: aljazeera.com
