Russian Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova says Russia is ready to hand over the bodies of prisoners of war allegedly killed in the Il-76 crash to Ukraine

Moscow, Russia (Svidomi) — Russian Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova has said that Russia is ready to hand over to Ukraine the bodies of prisoners of war who allegedly died on board an IL-76 in Russia's Belgorod region on January 24, Russian propaganda media reported.

Moskalkova claims that she is in contact with Ukrainian representatives and that they are interested in returning the bodies. She adds that the Russian side allegedly has all the DNA, which, according to the expert opinion, "allows for the identification of the persons".

At the same time, Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets says that Russia is speculating on this topic. At Lubinets' request, Russia has not yet provided official lists or confirmed the deaths of prisoners of war. Nor has Russia granted international organisations access to the site of the tragedy.

"We demand a fair investigation and access to the crash site. From day one, we have also demanded official lists and repatriation of the bodies and relevant examinations (if confirmed)," Lubinets said.

Earlier, representatives of Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence said that Russia had not expressed readiness to hand over to Ukraine the bodies of the dead Ukrainian prisoners who were allegedly on board the IL-76 that crashed near Russian Belgorod on January 24.

The UN said it could not verify the circumstances of the crash of the Russian IL-76 plane that crashed near Belgorod, Russia, on January 24, the day of the next prisoner of war exchange between Russia and Ukraine.