"I heard about the plane crash, and I would like to express my sincere condolences on behalf of my people and on behalf of my people in connection with the death of Russian soldiers," Deby said at talks with Putin in the Kremlin.
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 the Belgorod region.
Later, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the region's governor, said that all people on board the transport plane that had crashed were killed.