A video clip of a plane falling to the ground and exploding is now spreading on social media. The clip has not been verified.
According to the Russian state news agency Ria, about 70 people are said to have been on board the plane, which is a military cargo plane of the Ilyushin Il-76 model.
Much is still unknown about what actually happened. Different information about what was on board the plane also comes from Russia and Ukraine.
According to Russian authorities, they are Ukrainian prisoners of war.
”On board were 65 captured Ukrainian armed servicemen, six crew members and three accompanying persons”, said a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense quoted by Ria.
Ukrainian Pravda reports for its part that the aircraft was carrying anti-aircraft missiles, citing information from the Ukrainian military.
Belgorod, bordering Ukraine, has seen repeated attacks from Ukraine in recent months – including a drone attack in December that killed 25 people.
The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, states that he traveled to the scene, but so far only says that a serious incident occurred, according to TT.
Just before Gladkov’s announcement, he is said to have said that there was a formal air raid alert in the border region.