Ukraine says Russia refuses to turn over the bodies of military plane crash victims

By ILLIA NOVIKOV
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian intelligence official says his country has repeatedly asked Russia to hand over the bodies of scores of prisoners of war who Moscow claimed were killed in the downing of a Russian military transport plane by Ukrainian forces. Millitary intelligence spokesman Andrii Yusov said that Kyiv has urged Moscow to hand over the bodies of those who died in the Jan. 24 crash, but Moscow has refused to do so. Russian officials have claimed there were 74 people on board, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war. Russia accused Ukraine of killing its own men, while Kyiv dismisses Moscow’s assertions as “rampant Russian propaganda.”