Russia says it’s ready to hand over bodies of Ukrainian POWs allegedly killed in Belgorod plane crash

Moscow is ready to give Kyiv the bodies of the Ukrainian POWs that it says were onboard the IL-76 military transport aircraft that crashed in the Belgorod region in January, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said Friday.

“There was a conversation about whether the Russian side is ready to hand over the bodies,” Moskalkova told journalists. “Yes, we are ready. [...] The body can be transferred in accordance with the existing procedures.”

Moskalkova said she is in touch with Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets and that the Russian authorities have “confirmation and all of the DNA that, according to expert analysis, allow for the identification of all of the individuals” who died in the crash.

The Russian authorities have maintained that there were 65 Ukrainian POWs aboard the crashed Il-76 but have not provided any evidence. On February 9, Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said that there were no POWs on the plane. U.S. officials have said that the plane was downed by a Patriot missile defense system.