UPDATE - Russia says it returned bodies of 65 Ukrainian servicemen killed in plane crash to Ukraine

UPDATES WITH STATEMENT FROM UKRAINE

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia said on Monday that it returned the bodies of 65 Ukrainian servicemen killed in a plane crash in the country’s Belgorod region earlier this year.

On Jan. 24, 2024, Russia’s Defense Ministry accused Ukraine of shooting down a plane carrying 65 captured Ukrainian servicemen for a prisoner exchange.

The crew and all passengers on the plane were killed, it said, calling it "a terrorist attack" mounted to accuse Russia of killing Ukrainian servicemen.

Ukraine's Defense Intelligence claimed that the incident could be a “planned and deliberate” action by Moscow to “destabilize” the situation. Later, it confirmed the list of captives published by Russia.​​​​​​​

“They have been handed over. It has happened, and I was present,” Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said in response to a question during an interview with the state news agency RIA.

Moskalkova went on to say that contacts between Moscow and Kyiv on the exchange of the bodies of those killed amid the Ukraine war will continue.

In a later statement, Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War confirmed that it received the bodies of those killed in the crash, but that they require "additional identification."

"As of now, expert institutions are establishing within the framework of criminal proceedings whether the remains of these persons really belong to Ukrainian servicemen," it said on Telegram.