KABUL (BNA): A Russian military plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war and 9 Russian civilians, including six flight crew members and three guards, has crashed.
The incident occurred before Wednesday afternoon, the 24th of January, with conflicting reports about the cause of the crash.
Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti, reported that the military plane was transporting Ukrainian prisoners for exchange with Russian soldiers, but details about where the exchange was taking place remain unclear.
Currently, Russia and Ukraine are engaged in the exchange of prisoners with the mediation of the United Arab Emirates. Initially silent about the cause of the plane crash, the Russian Ministry of Defense later attributed it to Ukraine, accusing them of shooting down the aircraft with a missile.
Two senior Russian lawmakers claimed that the plane was brought down by missiles launched by Ukrainian forces.
A Ukrainian media outlet initially reported the army’s action in downing a Russian military plane with a missile on Wednesday morning but later deleted its report.
Bakhtar
