The Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down an Il-76 aircraft over Belgorod.
The IL-76 military aircraft was transporting 65 Ukrainian POW for exchange with Russian POW, along with 6 crew members and 3 escorts.
The captured Ukrainian servicemen were being transported to the Belgorod region for exchange.
Another Il-76 carrying 80 Ukrainian prisoners of war turned back, said the head of the Duma Defense Committee Andrei Kartapolov.
“The Ukrainian leadership was well aware of the impending exchange and was informed of how the prisoners would be delivered,” he said during a speech in the State Duma
After the crash of the IL-76 in the Belgorod region, prisoner exchanges between the Russian Federation and Ukraine will apparently be put on pause.
I saw one say that Russia was using the POWs as human shields because there were allegedly missiles onboard. Which is cartoonish.
I’ve been seeing that narrative go around too. It’s so embarrassing.