Kremlin claims not to have received Ukraine’s request for handover of bodies of alleged Il-76 crash victims

THE REMNANTS OF THE IL-76 AIRCRAFT THAT CRASHED IN RUSSIA. PHOTO: TASS

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated that the Administration of the Russian President had not received a request from Ukraine to hand over the bodies of prisoners of war (POWs) who, according to the Russians, died in an Il-76 plane crash near Russia’s Belgorod on 24 January.

Source: Dmitry Peskov in a comment for Kremlin-aligned news agency RIA Novosti

Quote: “The Administration of the Russian President did not receive any requests from Kyiv for the transfer of bodies of those POWs who died in the Il-76 crash.”

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Details: On 2 February, RIA Novosti, citing emergency services, also reported that all the wreckage of the Il-76 had been removed from the aircraft crash site and transported to a special testing ground. 

On 29 January, Russian emergency services informed journalists that the preliminary decoding of the black boxes from the Il-76 had been completed. 

On 30 January, Russian special services informed TASS that the data from the black boxes supposedly confirmed external influence on the Il-76 near Belgorod. As known, Moscow accuses Kyiv of shooting down the Il-76 aircraft with missiles.

Background:

• On 1 February, Andrii Yusov, a representative of Defence Intelligence, said that Ukraine approached Russia about repatriating the bodies of the prisoners of war who Moscow propagandists say were onboard the downed Il-76 aircraft, but Russia was not responding.
• He did not specify to whom this request was specifically addressed.
• Ukraine insists on conducting an international investigation into the circumstances of the Il-76 plane crash and determining “what was really inside: whether there were people or ammunition, and who was there besides the crew,” said Yusov.
• The Russian authorities claimed that the Il-76 crashed with 74 people aboard on 24 January, including the alleged 65 Ukrainian POWs who were to be swapped that day along with another group. The Ukrainian authorities have been unable to confirm this, but haven’t seen any evidence to support it either. On the other hand, Ukraine does not dispute Russia’s claim that it shot the plane down.
• None of the POWs who returned to Ukraine as a result of the swap on 31 January were on Russia’s list of those supposedly aboard the downed flight.

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