In month or two, it will be known whether Russians really handed over bodies of prisoners from IL-76 to Ukraine - Lubinets
The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said that the examination of the bodies, which Russia claims are the remains of Ukrainian prisoners of war killed during the downing of the IL-76 in January 2024, will take up to two months.
He said this in an interview with Ukrayinska Pravda, Censor.NET reports.
"Over the past two months, we have improved the procedure for repatriating bodies on both sides. A fairly large number of our dead have been handed over by the Russian side to the Ukrainian side. But can I say for sure that the bodies from the IL-76 were handed over to us until the examination is done? No. I hope we will be able to answer this question to Ukrainian society in a month or two," he explained.
As previously reported by Censor.NET, on March 1, Russian Ombudsman Tatyana Moskvalkova said that Russia was ready to hand over to Ukraine the bodies of those allegedly killed in the IL-76 crash. Later, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, noted that there would be communication with Russia regarding the transfer of the bodies of those allegedly killed in the downing of the IL-76.
The crash of the IL-76 in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation
On January 24, an Il-76 aircraft used to transport equipment and troops crashed in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation.
Russian media reported that the plane was carrying mostly Ukrainian prisoners of war, all of whom died.
The Defense Intelligence Service confirmed that a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine was to take place on January 24. Later, the representative of the Defense Intelligence Service, Andrii Yusov, clarified that this exchange was to be the largest since the full-scale Russian invasion.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would insist on an international investigation into the situation with the plane and the exchange of prisoners.
The SSU opens an investigation into the downing of the IL-76 in the Belgorod region.
Neither the UN nor the US can establish whether there were any Ukrainian prisoners of war on board.
Lubinets later said that Russia does not allow international experts to participate in the investigation, and the ICRC does not demand such access.
In early February, a representative of the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate, Andrii Yusov, said that Ukraine had asked Russia to return the bodies of Ukrainian prisoners of war who allegedly died as a result of the crash of an Il-76 aircraft in the Belgorod region. Russia has not yet responded to these requests. National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksii Danilov said that there were definitely no Ukrainian prisoners of war on the IL-76 plane that crashed in the Belgorod region of Russia.
