A Russian military transport plane has crashed near the southern city of Belgorod, close to the border with Ukraine, Russian authorities said Wednesday.
The plane was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, according to the Russian ministry of defense. NBC News could not independently verify who was on board the flight and has approached Ukraine’s armed forces for comment.
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash or whether anyone survived.
The Ilyushin Il-76 was “performing a scheduled flight” when it came down in the region adjacent to Ukraine’s northeastern border, the defense ministry said in a statement published by the state-run Tass news agency.
“On board were 65 captured military personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces transported to the Belgorod region for exchange, as well as six crew members and three accompanying persons,” the statement said.
A team has been sent to the crash site to investigate the cause of the incident, it added.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.