Communication planned with Russia on bodies of alleged Il-76 crash victims, Ukrainian Ombudsman says
Dmytro Lubinets, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Ukrainian Parliament (Photo: Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukraine will engage in communication with the Russian side regarding the return of the bodies of Ukrainian prisoners of war who allegedly died in the crash of an Il-76 plane near Belgorod, according to Dmytro Lubinets, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Ukrainian Parliament.
"I haven't received any official response regarding what happened. I haven't been provided with any official lists. According to the Russian side, Ukrainian prisoners of war allegedly died there, but I cannot confirm or refute this information," he said.
Lubinets emphasized that Ukraine is always ready to repatriate the bodies of soldiers who died while performing their duties and resisting the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. In the ombudsman's opinion, Russia is once again trying to exploit the issue of the deaths of prisoners.
"As of now, as the authorized representative of the Ukrainian Parliament, I do not have official information about what happened there. There are no official lists; no one has provided them to me. Did I address this issue with Moskalkova (the Russian Human Rights Commissioner - Ed.)? Yes, I did. I can't say how, but I can say that on the day I sent my official letter, which was primarily addressed to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN, Moskalkova received such a letter," the ombudsman stated.
He added that considerable time has passed since the Il-76 plane crash, so Russia had the opportunity to provide all the information to Ukraine, as well as to provide lists of prisoners or refute the information that Ukrainian prisoners of war were on board. However, instead of doing so, Moscow, as the ombudsman said, is engaging in an information campaign against our state.
"What exactly prevented them from providing lists and remains earlier? If once again they allegedly died on this plane. I learned about this information this morning. There will be appropriate communication today. Again, I won't say it will be direct communication. I will say that communication through the appropriate channels will take place today," Lubinets said.
The crash of the Russian Il-76 plane
On January 24, a Russian Il-76 plane crashed in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation. Russia claims that Ukraine allegedly shot down the plane. At the same time, Moscow assures that there were 65 Ukrainian military prisoners on the plane who were supposed to be exchanged.
The Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense confirmed that an exchange was indeed planned for January 24. However, the statement that Ukrainian prisoners of war were on the plane is not confirmed by intelligence.
Russian Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova stated that Moscow was ready to transfer the bodies of Ukrainian prisoners allegedly killed in the crash of the Il-76 plane.
