Debris of Russia's Il-76 Downed by Ukraine Being Removed From Site

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Removal of the debris of the Il-76 military transport plane downed by a Ukrainian missile in Russia's Belgorod Region has begun, a source in the emergency services told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"The removal of the Il-76 debris from the site has been organized," the source said.

The removal process may be aimed at further accommodation of the aircraft in a special hangar in order to conduct a detailed investigation into the cause of the crash, the source added.

On Wednesday, an Il-76 military transport plane with 65 Ukrainian PoWs being transported for an exchange crashed in Russia's western region of Belgorod, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said. All the PoWs, along with six crew members and three accompanying persons on board, died. The MoD accused Ukrainian forces of downing the plane.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said its staff was unaware that Russia's Il-76 was transporting Ukrainian PoWs for a swap. However, the Strana.ua news portal reported that the ministry had confirmed that a prisoner exchange between the parties was scheduled for Wednesday.

Both Russia and Ukraine said they had opened criminal cases into the downing of the plane. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also vowed to insist on an international investigation into the incident.