A Russian Il-76 military cargo plane carrying caprtured Ukrainian servicemen has crashed in the Belgorod region, the country's ministry of defense reported on Wednesday.
Onboard the aircraft were 65 captured military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) transported to the Belgorod region for exchange, six crew members and three accompanying persons, the defense ministry stated.
"At about 11:00 Moscow time [08:00 GMT], an IL-76 plane crashed in the Belgorod region during a scheduled flight. There were 65 captured servicemen of the Ukraine armed forces on board, transported to the Belgorod region for exchange, six crew members of the aircraft and three accompanying persons," the ministry said.
The defense ministry added that a Russian air forces commission flew to the crash site to establish the causes of the accident.
Commenting on the incident, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the information about the plane crash in the Belgorod region will be investigated.