The Russian defence ministry has confirmed a military plane has crashed in the Belgorod region this morning.
The Ilyushin Il-76 was carrying 65 "captured Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel" and performing a scheduled flight at the time, it said.
"They were being transported to the Belgorod region for exchange," it added.
Another six crew members and three other people were also on board.
It said the defence department has reported that a "Russian Aerospace Forces commission has already flown to the crash site in order to establish the causes of the disaster".
Belgorod, a region along the Russia-Ukraine border, has come under several attacks in the last few months.
