Bodies of 77: Ukrainian soldiers repatriated to Kyiv

KYIV, Ukraine: Ukraine said on Friday that Russia had returned the bodies of 77 soldiers, days after the downing of a Russian military plane threw doubt on the future of such exchanges.

Moscow and Kyiv traded fresh accusations over the crash of the transporter that Russia says was shot down near the rivals´ border, killing 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war.

While Kyiv has not outright denied the claims, officials have appeared to question whether its POWs were on board.

The latest repatriation of bodies appeared unrelated to the downing of the plane, which crashed in a fireball in Russia´s western Belgorod region on Wednesday.

“Preparations for the repatriation had been underway for a long time,” Ukraine´s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement.

Hundreds of captured prisoners have been freed in dozens of exchanges throughout the near two-year war.

But Russia´s claims that Ukraine shot down a plane ferrying Ukrainian detainees had thrown doubts on the future of such exchanges.

On Friday, Ukraine was still disputing Russia´s account of how the Ilyushin 76 military transporter crashed.

The Kremlin dismissed the idea of releasing evidence proving that dozens of Ukrainian soldiers had been killed.