Il-76 fall near Belgorod: Russia shows no readiness to hand over bodies, weapons could have been on board
Russia has showed no readiness to hand over bodies to Ukraine in the wake of claims that there were prisoners of war on the Il-76 military transport plane that crashed near Belgorod, Andriy Yusov, a representative of Ukrainian intelligence said in an interview to Suspilne media on Jan. 30.
There is still no evidence that Ukrainian soldiers were on the plane. Kyiv can only analyze these claims based on Russia's words, Yusov said.
"At the moment, there is no readiness on their part to hand over the bodies,” he said.
“However, on our part, such work is ongoing. If the worst is confirmed, we will do everything possible to bring back our defenders, either alive or not.”
Yusov does not rule out that the plane could have been carrying ammunition, as it was loaded to a third of its capacity, and the captured Ukrainians could have been used as human shields.
"This needs to be carefully clarified. The investigation is ongoing," he added.
During a planned exchange of prisoners on Jan. 24, 65 defenders from a list circulated by Russian propagandists were supposed to be returned to Ukraine, the Coordination Headquarters for Prisoner of War Affairs confirmed on Jan. 26.
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian ombudsman, also said that published "lists" contain the names of people who had already been returned home.
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