Moscow ready to return bodies of prisoners of war allegedly killed in downing of Il-76 – Russian commissioner

Moscow said that the Ukrainian side allegedly appealed to Russia to return the bodies of the victims. According to Moskalkova, everything necessary for the transfer of the bodies is already in place.

At the same time, Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said that the Russian side was speculating.

"So far, at my request, Russia has not handed over official lists, confirmed the fact, or granted international organizations access to the site of the tragedy. I emphasize that Ukraine's position is unchanged: we demand a transparent investigation, access to the crash site, and from day one we have been demanding official lists and repatriation of the bodies and relevant examinations (if confirmed)," Lubinets said.

A representative of the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate, Andriy Yusov, said that Ukraine still considers people from the "Il-76 list" who were declared dead by Russia to be prisoners of war. In a comment to Suspilne, he noted that Kyiv has repeatedly appealed to Russia to hand over the bodies of Ukrainian prisoners of war who may have died on board the Il-76.

The downing of the Il-76

On the morning of January 24, Russian media reported that an Il-76 aircraft had crashed in Belgorod Oblast. The Russian Defense Ministry said that there were allegedly 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war on board, who were being transported for exchange, as well as 6 crew members and 3 escorts.

At the same time, Ukrainian media, citing sources, claimed that the Il-76 was carrying missiles for S-300 systems, which Russians are using to fire on Kharkiv Oblast.

Ukrainian intelligence confirmed that a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine was being prepared on January 24. Later, the intel said that Russia had not warned them about the transportation of Ukrainian prisoners to the exchange point, and there was no reliable and comprehensive information about who was on the Russian Il-76.

Intelligence representative Andriy Yusov said that only five bodies were delivered to the morgue in Belgorod after the plane crashed. This corresponds to the number of its crew. He also said that Russian military and political VIPs were supposed to be on board, but at the last minute, Russian special services forbade them to board the plane.

On January 31, a large prisoner exchange took place, with 207 Ukrainians returning to Ukraine. But those whom Russia allegedly transported on an Il-76 plane were not among the released soldiers.