Ukraine asks Russia Il-76 crash POW bodies to be handed over; Kremlin says it has not been asked

Ukraine has asked Russia to hand over the bodies of the POWs killed in the Il-76 plane crash in Belgorod Oblast. As kommersant.ru reports, the press representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Andriy Yusov said this.

“Ukraine has applied and continues to apply for the return of the bodies. However, the Russian side has not agreed to it so far,” Yusov said.

However, Spokesperson for the Russian President Dmitry Peskov stated that the Russian president’s office had not received any requests from Kyiv regarding the transportation of bodies of the POWs who were killed in the Il-76 crash.

To remind, a Russian military Il-76 plane crashed in Belgorod Oblast on Jan. 24. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that 65 Ukrainian POWs, six crew members and three accompanying officers of the Russian Armed Forces were on board the plane; they all died. According to Russian investigators, the plane was shot down by two missiles fired from a U.S. Patriot surface-to-air missile system.