All occupants of the Russian plane died in the accident, says Moscow

“TAll people on board died,” said Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, quoted by the Russian agency TASS.

Russian authorities said the IL-76 military plane was carrying 65 Ukrainian soldiers for a prisoner exchange with Ukraine, six crew members and three escorts.

The causes of the disaster have not yet been officially announced, TASS added.

The speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament (Duma), Vyacheslav Volodin, accused Ukraine of having shot down the military plane.

“They killed their own soldiers in the air, mothers and children were waiting for them”, declared Volodin in the hemicycle in Moscow, quoted by the French agency AFP.

The plane crashed at around 11 am in Moscow (8 am in Lisbon), in a populated area in the Belgorod region, a few kilometers from the Ukrainian border, said the local governor.

According to Vyacheslav Gladkov, the crash site was isolated, all operational services were on site and investigative measures were being taken.

“A commission is being sent to the scene to determine the causes of the disaster,” Gladkov added to TASS.

Ukraine has not yet made any official comment on the plane crash.

Military sources in Kiev cited by the Ukrinform news agency and the online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda said the plane was carrying missiles for the S-300 anti-aircraft systems used to bomb Ukraine.

The Ukrainian coordinating commission for the treatment of prisoners of war called on people and institutions to refrain from spreading unverified information about the downing of the Russian plane.

The commission said it was collecting information on the issue, particularly on Moscow’s announcement that the plane was carrying 65 Ukrainian soldiers for a prisoner exchange.

The Belgorod region is regularly targeted by Ukrainian missiles and drones due to its proximity to the border.

Russia has not stopped bombing Ukraine since it invaded the neighboring country on February 24, 2022.

[Notícia atualizada às 12h04]

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