Russian jet crashes carrying Ukrainian PoWs

It’s still unclear why a Russian military transport aircraft crashed in the Belgorod region near the Ukraine border on Wednesday, whether because it was brought down by a missile or suffered some catastrophic technical failure. But all 74 people on board were killed, according to Russian authorities.

The first images of the wreckage on the ground are inconclusive; one video shows the last seconds of the plane as it hurtles towards earth before a large fireball erupts.

But the Russian authorities have claimed that Ukrainian missiles were responsible – and that they killed 65 of their own prisoners of war, along with six crew members and three Russian personnel, who were on board the Ilyushin Il-76.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the plane was destroyed by an anti-aircraft missile system deployed in the area of Liptsy in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) from where the plane came down. It said radar equipment had detected the launches.

The Defense Ministry also claimed that “the Ukrainian leadership knew very well that, according to established practice, today Ukrainian military personnel would be transported by military transport aircraft to the Belgorod airfield for exchange” at the Kolotilovka checkpoint on the Russian border with the Ukrainian region of Sumy.

In response, Ukraine’s military command said it regarded Russian military aircraft approaching Belgorod as legitimate targets but stopped short of acknowledging it fired at a Russian transport plane.

The 50-mile distance from Liptsy to the crash site would be beyond most Ukrainian ground-to-air missile systems. A Ukrainian defense intelligence official did confirm that a prisoner exchange had been due to happen on Wednesday, but did not acknowledge knowing the logistical details of the Russian side of the swap. Another Ukrainian military source was quoted as claiming that the plane was carrying Russian missiles, not prisoners.