In a devastating incident that took place on January 24th, a second military aircraft, an Il-76, carrying 80 captive soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF), was shot down over the Belgorod region. The Chairman of the Defense Committee of the State Duma, Andrey Kartapolov, confirmed this information, which was reported by journalist Evgeny Popov via his Telegram channel.
According to Kartapolov, the first plane in the Russian region was shot down by three missiles.
The deputy claims that the Ukrainian authorities were aware of the planned prisoner exchange and were informed of how the soldiers would be transported back to their homeland.
“However, the Il-76 plane was shot down by three missiles from either the Patriot or the IRIS T anti-aircraft missile system, both of German origin,” Kartapolov stated during a session in the State Duma.
The tragedy occurred in the morning of January 24th in the Korochansky district of the Belgorod region. The regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, announced that an investigative group and emergency services personnel are currently working at the scene of the incident. He himself also went to the crash site.
Later, the Russian Ministry of Defense revealed that there were 65 captive UAF soldiers on board the aircraft, who were being transported to the Belgorod region for the exchange, along with six crew members and three escorts.
Previously, the Kremlin commented on the plane crash near Belgorod.
