Ukraine and Russia battle over the bodies of plane crash casualties

KYIV ­— Russia is refusing to return the bodies of 65 Ukrainian POWs it says were killed in last week's downing of a Russian Ilyushin Il-76 military transport aircraft near the Russian border city of Belgorod, Andriy Yusov, a representative of Ukraine's military intelligence, told POLITICO.

But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed the presidential administration has received no such request from Ukraine.

It's part of a gruesome battle over what happened when the airplane crashed on Jan. 24, who was killed and who bears responsibility.

Russia is trying to put the blame on Kyiv, alleging that the transport plane was shot down by Ukraine with U.S.-made Patriot surface-to-air missiles. Ukraine neither confirms nor denies that it shot down the airplane.

The Russian Defense Ministry called what happened a terrorist act and charged that Kyiv had prior knowledge that the prisoners were going to be flown for an exchange of POWs — but that Ukraine shot down the airplane to tarnish Moscow.

Russia called a U.N. Security Council meeting on Jan. 25, claiming Kyiv committed a terror attack using Western weapons.  However, the U.N. said it was not in a position to verify those reports or the circumstances of the crash.

“What is clear is that the incident took place in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ongoing war. To avoid further escalation, we urge all concerned to refrain from actions, rhetoric, or allegations that could further fuel the already dangerous conflict,” U.N. Undersecretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo said during the meeting.

Kyiv says that the Il-76 was a legitimate target as such airplanes often fly missiles and other weapons to be used against Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has demanded an international investigation into the crash.  

Kyiv has since confirmed that a prisoner exchange was indeed planned. The Ukrainian government also says it was never informed that prisoners were aboard the airplane.

There are still big questions as to just who was on the plane, which was filmed as it spiralled into a fiery crash near Belgorod.

Yusov said only five bodies were delivered to the Belgorod morgue. Ukrainian journalists from Radio Liberty managed to confirm at least three of them were Russian crew members.

Russia has released a list of names of those who were supposedly killed, and Ukraine’s Coordination Staff on Treatment of POWs confirmed that the list of 65 POWs published by Russia was the actual exchange plan for that day.

But the Kremlin's actions in the aftermath of the crash are raising suspicion in Kyiv that Russia is lying.

"Russia immediately announced that it would not allow international experts to investigate the Il-76M crash. However, Ukraine will use all tools to find out the true reasons for what happened, as well as who or what was transported in that plane," said Serhiy Andrushchenko, the deputy head of the Security Service of Ukraine, adding that Ukraine needs more time to collect evidence through its sources in Russia.

Russia's Investigative Committee, a law-enforcement agency, published a video from the crash scene with one body fragment showing a tattoo, claiming this was evidence that the POWs were on board, as these kinds of tattoos are often seen on soldiers from Ukraine's Azov battalion.

“Among the material evidence, which has already been included in the criminal case file, there are also documents of Ukrainian servicemen who died in the disaster, confirming their identity,” the Russian Investigative Committee said.

However, relatives of the Ukrainian POWs whose names were on the list did not recognize tattoos of their loved ones on the video materials, the coordination staff said in a statement.

The crash came a few days before a large prisoner exchange.

 On Jan. 31, Ukraine and Russia exchanged POWs, with Kyiv bringing back 207 and Russia 195 soldiers.

Yusov said that the 65 POWs from the Jan. 24 list were not among them. As the Kremlin refuses to return their bodies, Ukraine still considers them “in captivity.”

Eva Hartog contributed reporting from Brussels.