On Wednesday, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said that an Il-76 military transport plane with 65 Ukrainian PoWs being transported for exchange had crashed in the Belgorod Region. All the PoWs along with six crew members and three accompanying persons on board died.
The MoD accused the Ukrainian forces of downing the plane. Later, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry stated that its staff was not aware that Russia's Il-76 was transporting Ukrainian PoWs for a prisoner swap, but Ukrainian news portal Strana.ua reported that the ministry had confirmed a prisoner exchange between the parties was scheduled for Wednesday.
"During a detailed examination of the wreckage of the aircraft, hundreds of entrance holes from the striking elements of a missile were found," the representative said.
The striking elements were also found as "some got stuck in the outer layer, many pierced through it completely," the representative added.