Ukrainian Military Intelligence Confirms POW Exchange with Russia Was Scheduled

An IL-76 transport airplane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war for a hostage exchange crashed in the Belgorod Region of Russia on Wednesday

MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/. A Russia-Ukraine POW exchange was scheduled for Wednesday, January 24, but it will no longer take place, Andrey Yusov, spokesman for the Ukrainian defense ministry’s main intelligence directorate, said.

"I can state that the exchange planned for today is not happening anymore," he said in a commentary for Radio Svoboda (recognized as a foreign agent media outlet in Russia).

An IL-76 transport airplane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war for a hostage exchange crashed in the Belgorod Region of Russia on Wednesday. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, 65 Ukrainian military personnel, 3 escorts and 6 crew members were on board. The causes of the crash have not yet been determined. Russia’s Aerospace Force has dispatched a commission to investigate the crash.