The attack by Ukrainian forces on the Russian Il-76 plane carrying Ukrainian servicemen for a planned prisoner exchange was a deliberate and conscious action, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, commenting on the incident, which it called an "act of terrorism."
"Kiev was well aware of the planned exchange [of prisoners of war]. They knew how and by what route the prisoners of war would be transferred. The attack on the plane was a deliberate and conscious action. The terrorist attack clearly demonstrates the inability of the Kiev regime to negotiate," the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry condemned the attack and also called on international organizations to do so, as "their silence will mean support for [Kiev’s] barbarism".
Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry said that an Il-76 transport plane of the Russian air forces with 65 Ukrainian prisoners who were being transported for exchange, six crew members and three accompanying persons, crashed in Belgorod region.
According to the Defense Ministry, the plane, which was en route to Belgorod airfield to transport Ukrainian servicemen as part of a planned prisoner exchange, was shot down by Ukrainian forces using an anti-aircraft missile system near the Liptsy settlement in the Kharkov region.
Russia's Belgorod region is situated near the border with Ukraine and has often suffered attacks from Ukraine's territory since the beginning of Russia's special military operation there.