The Russian Defense Ministry said the plane was destroyed by an anti-aircraft missile system deployed in the area of Liptsy in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) from where the plane came down. Another Ukrainian military source was quoted as claiming that the plane was carrying Russian missiles, not prisoners. Another puzzling element is that according to the Russian version of events, the Ukrainian PoWs were guarded by just three Russian personnel on board the plane (besides the crew.) But a large Russian military aircraft without anti-missile defenses approaching Belgorod – itself a frequent target of Ukrainian drones – would have been a tempting and valuable target for Ukraine. There’s been no visual evidence of the wreckage, and the Russian Defense Ministry has not responded to the claim.

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Persons: CNN — It’s, Andrey Kartapolov, Maksym Kolesnikov, Dmytro Lubinets, “, There’s Organizations: CNN, Ukrainian, Russian Defense Ministry, Defense Ministry, Duma Defense, IRIS, Patriot, Ukrainian PoW Locations: Belgorod, Ukraine, Liptsy, Ukraine’s Kharkiv, Ukrainian, Sumy, Russian, Moscow, US, Russia, Bryansk, Olenivka, Donetsk, Belgorod –, Azov