Russia's state-run news agency says two black boxes have been recovered from a Russian military transport plane that crashed in the Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border on Wednesday. Russia has denounced Ukraine for shooting down the plane.

The TASS news agency said on Thursday that the black boxes were retrieved at the site of the crash and they would be sent to a Russian Defense Ministry laboratory for analysis to determine the cause of the crash.

On the previous day, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the Ilyushin Il-76 plane was shot down by anti-aircraft missiles fired from Ukraine near the Russian border. The ministry said the downed plane was on its way to a hostage exchange with Ukraine. It said all 74 people on board were killed in the crash, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, and 9 Russian personnel.

The Ukrainian government has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in the plane crash.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia, saying, "It is obvious that the Russians are messing with the lives of Ukrainian captives, the feelings of their relatives, and the emotions of our society." He called for an international investigation into the cause of the crash.

Responding to Zelenskyy's remarks regarding an international inquiry, Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that such an investigation into what he called the criminal acts by Ukraine is definitely needed.

The Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, said in its analysis on Wednesday that Russians are seizing the plane crash to fuel domestic discontent in Ukraine and undermine the intention of Western countries to continue giving military support to Ukraine.