Azov fighters among those killed in Il-76 plane crash

There were at least 12 representatives of Azov* battalion on board the Il-76 transport aircraft. The Azov fighters, as well as 53 other soldiers and officers were being taken for exchange.

Some of the captured Ukrainian military men were either killed or seriously injured even before the Il-76 crashed due to the PAC-2 missile impact, Mash Telegram said.  The destructive agents of the missile are made of tungsten and weigh 45 grams.

It is believed that the missile hit the middle part of the airplane, in the cargo deck area — where the Ukrainian prisoners of war were seated.

A PAC-2 explodes before it reaches the target sending thousands of metal balls flying in all directions. Their energy is enough to riddle an unarmored aircraft through.

The crew of the Il-76 also confirmed an external impact. The pilots of the Il-76 reported an emergency to ground dispatchers. The crew sacrificed their lives by redirecting the falling plane from the village of Yablonovo so it crashed in the field. No local resident was hurt, no ground destruction was reported.

List of Ukrainian POWs published

RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan published the list of 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were allegedly on the Il-76 that crashed near Belgorod.

The crash of the Il-76 near Belgorod is a terrorist attack; the plane was hit from an anti-aircraft missile system that was activated in the area of Liptsy, the Kharkiv region, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

The plane was flying from Chkalovsky airfield to Belgorod to transport Ukrainian military personnel for exchange; there were six crew members on board, 65 Ukrainian servicemen for exchange and three Russian servicemen accompanying them. All of them were killed, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

"The Ukrainian leadership knew very well that a military transport aircraft would transport the Ukrainian military personnel to the Belgorod airfield for exchange. According to the previously reached agreement, this event was to take place on Jan. 24 in the afternoon at Kolotilovka checkpoint on the Russian-Ukrainian border," the Defence Ministry also said.

*terrorist group, banned in Russia