Russia’s Ministry of Defense accused Ukraine on Wednesday of shooting down a military aircraft that was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war over Russia’s western Belgorod region, killing everyone on board. The claim about what downed the II-76 aircraft could not be independently confirmed, but the ministry said Russian radar systems had detected the launch of two Ukrainian missiles that struck the plane.
Ukrainian officials warned against sharing unverified information, with the country’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War issuing a statement saying, “the enemy is actively conducting information special operations against Ukraine aimed at destabilizing Ukrainian society.”
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said the plane had been carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war from Chkalovsky, near Moscow, to Belgorod for a prisoner swap. Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency said 65 POWs had been on the plane, along with six crew members and three people accompanying the prisoners.
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Unverified video on social media appeared to show a plane falling from the sky and then a huge ball of flames erupting where it looked like the plane hit the ground. A small puff of smoke was visible in the sky where the plane had been spotted before crashing.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said a special military commission was on its way to the site of the crash.
“So far, the only suggestion that there were Ukrainians on board comes from the Russian Ministry of Defense, which usually serves as an indicator that the opposite is true,” Keir Giles, Senior Consulting Fellow for the Russia and Eurasia program at London’s Chatham House thinktank, said in a statement. “Russia controls the crash site — and has every opportunity to fabricate evidence to support its story. Missile fragments and other ‘evidence’ can easily be introduced to show to journalists… In summary, Russia holds all the cards for turning a serious military setback locally into a propaganda victory worldwide.”
There have been a number of Russian military plane crashes recently, which some analysts have suggested is due to an increased number of flights amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, according to the AP.
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Belgorod governor Gladkov said a Ukrainian drone had been shot down in the area earlier Wednesday, but there were no casualties and no damage caused. It was the latest in what appears to be a move by Ukraine to extend its attacks inside Russia ahead of the two-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said previously that Ukraine’s military would conduct more strikes on the border region this year, in part to unnerve Russians ahead of the upcoming March 17 presidential election in the country. President Vladimir Putin is set to run again, virtually unchallenged after a years-long crackdown on all forms of dissent.
