At first it was not clear what had caused the accident. The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, who was traveling on the plane.
The Associated Press could not confirm who was on the plane, and Ukrainian authorities urged caution before releasing unconfirmed information.
The prisoners were traveling to the border area for an exchange, according to state news agency RIA Novosti, which cited the ministry.
Images of the event shared on social networks showed how a plane fell from the sky in a rural, snowy area, and a huge fireball exploded in the place where it seemed to have collided with the ground.
Firefighters, ambulances and police responded to the scene in Belgorod’s Korochansky district, state news agency Tass said, citing a local emergency services official.
Two prominent Russian lawmakers claimed, without providing evidence, that the plane had been shot down by missiles launched by Ukrainian forces.
Shortly before the crash, the governor of Belgorod had said on his Telegram channel that a “missile alert” had been activated in the region and warned residents to take cover.
The Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said it was investigating what happened but did not immediately provide any information. Instead, he warned against spreading “unverified information.”
“We emphasize that the enemy maintains special information operations against Ukraine aimed at destabilizing Ukrainian society,” he said in a statement on Telegram.
A special military team was on its way to the site, according to the Russian ministry. In addition to the prisoners, six crew members and three companions were traveling on the aircraft, he added.
Speaking on his morning call with reporters, Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said he could not comment on the crash because he did not have enough information about it.
The affected plane is designed to transport troops, goods, military equipment and weapons, and can carry up to 225 soldiers, according to the Russian military export agency.
It was learned that the Russian armed forces accuse Ukraine of shooting down the plane and confirmed that all 74 people on board died.
The Russian air force has suffered several accidents that some experts have attributed to the high number of flights during the fighting in Ukraine.
Wednesday marked 700 days since the full-scale invasion by Kremlin forces began. With the 1,500-kilometer (930-mile) frontline largely immobile through the winter as both sides try to replenish their arsenals, fighting has focused on long-distance attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Tuesday that a major Russian missile attack apparently designed to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses had killed 18 people and wounded 130.
Massive Attack
Tuesday morning’s barrage of more than 40 ballistic, cruise, anti-aircraft and guided missiles hit 130 residential buildings in three Ukrainian cities, “all ordinary houses,” Zelenskyy said on X, formerly Twitter.
The attack, which included targets in the capital, Kiev, and the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, was the most intense in several weeks and gave more weight to Zelenskyy’s calls for his Western allies to provide more military aid.
“This year, the top priority is to strengthen anti-aircraft defense to protect our cities and towns, as well as defend positions on the front,” Zelenskyy said on X on Tuesday night.
Analysts say Russia has stockpiled missiles to wage a winter bombing campaign, while Ukraine has tried to attack Russian territory with new kinds of drones.
Russia may have used decoy missiles in Tuesday’s attack in an effort to poke holes in air defenses, according to a US think tank.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said Moscow is probably trying to get more ballistic missiles from other countries, such as Iran and North Korea, because they might be more effective in some circumstances.
A new round of Russian S-300 missiles hit residential districts of Kharkiv on Tuesday night, wounding nine people and damaging residential buildings, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov.
Russia denies that its forces attack civilian areas, although there is strong evidence to the contrary.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses had shot down Ukrainian drones over the Oryol region in western Russia early Wednesday.
Oryol Mayor Yuri Parakhin said several drones had been shot down over the city. He noted that there had been no casualties, although windows were broken in several apartment buildings in the city.
Another Ukrainian drone was shot down on Wednesday morning over the Belgorod border region, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. There were no casualties or damage, he added.
Ukraine’s allies have vowed to continue sending military aid packages even as their resources have been strained. The help of The United States, by far Ukraine’s largest supplier, has also encountered political complications.
The German Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday that it planned to send six Bundeswehr SEA KING Mk41 helicopters to Ukraine.
Since the war began, Germany has sent some 6 billion euros ($6.52 billion) worth of military hardware, including major anti-aircraft systems, according to the government.
Source: With information from AP/AFP
