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Russia says it's ready to transfer bodies of POWs killed in Il-76 plane crash

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Russia says it's ready to transfer bodies of POWs killed in Il-76 plane crash
Archive photo. An Ilyushin Il-76 seen above Moscow, Russia on May 9, 2021. (Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Russia is ready to hand over to Ukraine the bodies of those killed in an Il-76 plane crash on Jan. 24, Russia's state-owned RIA Novosti reported on March 1 citing the country's human rights official.

Russia has alleged that its military aircraft that crashed in Belgorod Oblast on Jan. 24 was destroyed by Ukrainian forces and that it was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners. The Kremlin has yet to provide evidence that there were any POWs on the downed plane. Ukrainian officials did reveal that a prisoner exchange had been planned for that day.

"Yes, we are ready," Russian human rights official Tatyana Moskalkova was quoted as saying. "The bodies can be transferred according to the procedures that are in place."

Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksii Danilov said in an interview published in early February that there were no Ukrainian prisoners of war on the downed transport plane.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called for an international investigation into the Il-76 crash.

Unnamed American officials told the New York Times on Feb. 8 that the American-made Patriot missile system was likely responsible for the Russian Il-76 plane crash. Additionally, officials suggested that the plane likely had at least some Ukrainian prisoners onboard.

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Olena Goncharova

Head of North America desk

Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.

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