Russian officials said a military plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war crashed in the Belgorod region near the border with Ukraine on January 24, killing everyone on board.
“A transport plane crashed in the Korochansky district. It fell in a field near a populated area. Everyone on board died,” regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a post on Telegram.
Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry said 65 “captured Ukrainian Army servicemen” were on board the plane and being transported to the Belgorod region for exchange. In addition, it said, six crew members and three people escorting the captives were on the flight, which crashed at around 11 a.m. local time.