Russia Moscow and Kiev argue over identity of soldiers' bodies
According to Russia, it has handed over the Ukrainian prisoners of war who died when a transport plane was shot down to Kiev.
09.12.2024, 15:27
SDA
"It happened, and I was there," Russian human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova told the Russian state news agency Ria Novosti. She did not say when the handover was supposed to have taken place. The coordination staff in Ukraine responsible for prisoner of war matters did not initially confirm the identity of the bodies. Expert reports on the identification of the remains are awaited.
At the end of January, a Russian Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane was presumably shot down by the Ukrainian side in the Belgorod border region. Moscow claimed that 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war were on board for an exchange at the nearby border. Although Kiev confirmed the exchange planned for that day, it said that the plane had been used to transport anti-aircraft missiles and not prisoners of war.
Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian invasion for over two and a half years. Since the beginning of the war, the Ukrainian side has received back over 3,700 prisoners.
Most recently, Russia handed over over 500 soldiers' bodies to Ukraine at the end of November. The large number of Ukrainian corpses on the Russian side is linked to the advance of Moscow's troops. As a result, Ukraine is unable to recover some of its own casualties.
