Russia accused Ukraine of shooting down a Russian military plane near the Ukrainian border on Wednesday, saying all 74 people on board were killed, including dozens of Ukrainian soldiers who were being transported for a prisoner exchange.
The Ilyushin-76 cargo plane crashed into Russian airspace, five to six kilometers from the village of Yablonovo, in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine to the northeast. The Russian Defense Ministry classified the accident as an act of terrorism.
“The plane was destroyed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the Liptsy area in the Kharkiv region using an anti-aircraft missile system,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Russian Aerospace Forces radar equipment observed the launch of two Ukrainian missiles,” he added.
Air defense systems in the Belgorod region were active shortly before the crash, according to the region’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov.
The Ukrainian military command stated that it considered the Russian military planes approaching Belgorod to be legitimate targets, but did not acknowledge that it had fired at the plane.
In a carefully worded statement, the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said that recent attacks on the city of Kharkiv, which is just 30 kilometers from Russia, are being facilitated by Russian cargo planes bringing weapons close to the border.
“The recorded intensity of the bombings is directly related to the increase in the number of military transport planes that recently headed towards the Belgorod airfield,” the statement said.
“With this in mind, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will continue to take measures to destroy delivery facilities and control airspace to eliminate the terrorist threat, including in the Belgorod-Kharkiv direction.”
Ukrainian sources previously said the plane was carrying missiles for the S-300 air defense system. CNN was unable to independently verify either party’s claims.
Thunderous applause
A video geolocated by CNN appears to show the last seconds of the IL-76 plane before it crashed into the ground.
The video was filmed in Yablonovo, which is about 40 kilometers northeast of the city of Belgorod, and begins with the plane already in an abrupt fall. Just before disappearing behind a truck and trees, what appears to be a part of the plane can be seen falling from the front of the fuselage.
Two seconds later, after the plane has disappeared from sight, a huge ball of fire and black smoke is seen coming out of the point of impact – which is not visible – with the ground.
The camera then pans sharply to the left to show what appears to be a small cloud of smoke. This could be an indication of a possible explosion on the plane, although the plane’s flight path cannot be established with certainty from the video.
Several eyewitnesses described hearing loud bangs at the time of the accident, followed by an air raid warning in the Russian city.
“We heard one or two bangs. About a minute or less apart. The second bang was much louder. We all ran to see if anyone needed help, but the bang was further away, beyond the village. It was very loud and frightening “, a woman told Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
“We heard three applauses. The applause was quite loud and we thought that something had fallen somewhere here or that missiles had been launched into the air. Right after that, the boys in my class started saying that the air raid warning had sounded in Belgorod, to the sound of a siren,” said a young man.
Another man said there was a “strong vibration” in the room following the loud noises.
The Il-76 pilots managed to divert the plane from the village of Yablonovo, sacrificing their lives, said the rector of the local church, Father Georgy Borovikov.
Allegations that there were Ukrainian troops on board
Russian news agencies, citing the Ministry of Defense, stated that 65 Ukrainian soldiers were on board the plane and were being transported to Belgorod ahead of a prisoner exchange.
A Ukrainian government agency for prisoners of war said it was investigating allegations that the plane was carrying Ukrainian military personnel.
A statement from the “Headquarters for Coordination for the Treatment of Prisoners of War of Ukraine” did not provide further details, but warned that Russia was “actively conducting special information operations against Ukraine with the aim of destabilizing Ukrainian society.”
Ukraine confirmed that a prisoner of war exchange with Russia should have taken place on Wednesday. “It’s not happening at the moment,” Andriy Yuson of Ukraine’s Defense Secret Service told CNN.
Six Russian crew members and three “escorts” were also on board the plane, according to Russian authorities. The member of the defense committee of the Russian Parliament, Andrey Kartapolov, said that a second military plane, also an IL-76, was carrying another 80 prisoners of war, and the device was diverted from the route.
Kartapolov said that “Ukrainian leaders were well aware of the imminent exchange and were informed of how the prisoners would be handed over. But the IL-76 plane was shot down by three missiles, either with anti-aircraft missile systems or Patriot, or with IRIS of manufacture German”.
Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the cause of the accident was being investigated. “A transport plane crashed in the Korochansky district. It fell into a field near a village. All people on board died,” Gladkov said. “The accident site is now isolated. All operational services are on site and investigative measures are being taken,” he added.
The Ilyushin Il-76 is a Soviet-era military transport plane with a payload of more than 50 tons, according to European air safety body Eurocontrol. It has been in service since 1975.
The border city of Belgorod was the scene of one of the deadliest Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil late last year. At least 24 people, including three children, were killed and 108 others were injured in the attacks, which provoked Russian reprisals in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine.
The plane crash comes as Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its third year, with little battlefield progress made by either side in recent months. Western intelligence assessments warn that movement on the battlefield could stagnate even further this year.
Kiev and Moscow have exchanged prisoners of war throughout the conflict. The biggest exchange took place in early January, when the two sides exchanged more than 200 prisoners.