It has been confirmed whether Ukrainian prisoners were indeed on board the IL-76 that crashed in Russia.

Russia has handed over to Ukraine the bodies of the deceased, whom it refers to as Ukrainian prisoners of war from the crashed Il-76 in the Belgorod region. DNA testing has confirmed a match between the remains and the data from most of the victims' relatives, but there is still no confirmation that they were on that specific aircraft.

According to the words of Bohdan Okhrimenko, head of the Secretariat of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Ukraine received 62 bodies in December, which the Russian side associates with the Il-76 disaster. An investigation by the SBU is currently underway, and preliminary examination results indicate a DNA match with around 50 relatives of the deceased.

"We were given the remains that, according to the Russian version, were on the plane. However, there is still no evidence of this," noted Okhrimenko.

What preceded this?

• November 8, 2024 Ukraine returned the bodies of 563 fallen defenders as part of repatriation efforts.
• In early December Russian Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova stated that Moscow had transferred to Ukraine the bodies of prisoners of war allegedly killed in the Il-76.
• December 18 Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets announced that the examination of the bodies could take up to two months.

What happened on January 24?

On that day, a military Il-76 aircraft crashed in the Belgorod region of Russia. Ukrainian sources in the General Staff reported that the plane was transporting missiles for the S-300 air defense system.

However, Moscow insisted that there were dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war on board, being transported for exchange. Yet, Russia has not provided any evidence, and Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate stated that there were no signs of prisoners being on the plane.

Subsequently, Russia refused to allow an international commission to investigate the crash, and the UN Security Council has yet to receive any evidence from Moscow that Ukrainians were on board.

Earlier, Telegraph reported that a plane overturned during landing in Canada: there are casualties (photos, videos).