A Russian military transport plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, six crew and three people accompanying them has crashed in Russia’s Belgorod region near Ukraine, Russia’s Defence Ministry said.

The authorities were investigating the cause of the crash, and a special military commission was on the way to the crash site, the Defence Ministry said.

The ministry said it was transporting Ukrainian prisoners of war on the Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane to be exchanged in a swap.

Local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that an unspecified “incident” had occurred in the region’s Korochansky district, north-east of Belgorod city, and that he was going to inspect the site.

He said investigators and emergency workers were already on the scene.

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AP/Reuters