Ukraine says Russia has refused to turn over bodies of plane crash victims

By ILLIA NOVIKOV
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian intelligence official says that the 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. Andrii Yusov, the spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence, 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.