Moscow is willing to hand over the remains of Ukrainian prisoners of war from the crash of a Russian Il-76 transport plane that was downed by Kiev in January, according to human rights ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova.
The aircraft was shot down over Russia’s border region of Belgorod on January 24 while carrying 65 Ukrainian POWs to a prisoner exchange, accompanied by three Russian observers and six crew members. There were no survivors. At first, Ukraine claimed responsibility, then argued that the attack was legitimate since it was a military transport plane, and eventually called for an investigation into the matter.
All necessary postmortem examinations and procedures have been completed, Moskalkova told RIA Novosti on Sunday. Her Ukrainian counterpart told her that Kiev was ready to accept the remains when they spoke at the end of February, she added.
DNA tests conducted by the Russian Investigative Committee have confirmed the deaths of all people listed on the flight. While refusing to set any specific deadlines, the ombudswoman affirmed that “there is willingness on the Russian side” to return the bodies of the Ukrainians, when asked whether there were any issues regarding a potential exchange.
Meanwhile, an analysis of the debris found that the Il-76 was shot down by two MIM-104A surface-to-air missiles, which were launched across the border by a Ukrainian Patriot battery located in Kharkov Region.
Last month, anonymous US officials told the New York Times that they have little doubt the US-made air defense system brought down the plane. The newspaper added that Ukraine may have killed its own POWs by accident while acting on “flawed intelligence.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said, “one could assume that it was accidental,” but “it is a crime in any case,” calling for an international investigation into the incident.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed the use of the US-made system in the killing, accusing the administration of US President Joe Biden of making American citizens “complicit in the bloody tragedy.”