‘Never again’ says Ukraine as families mourn Iran plane crash victims

Ukraine and other countries jointly called for "a complete and thorough explanation”.

January 08, 2021 05:59 pm | Updated 06:05 pm IST - KYIV

In this photo taken on January 10, 2020, an airport employee looks at a makeshift memorial for the flight crew of the Ukrainian 737-800 plane that crashed on the outskirts of Tehran, inside Borispil International Airport, Kyiv, Ukraine.

In this photo taken on January 10, 2020, an airport employee looks at a makeshift memorial for the flight crew of the Ukrainian 737-800 plane that crashed on the outskirts of Tehran, inside Borispil International Airport, Kyiv, Ukraine.

Ukraine called on Iran to deliver justice and pay full compensation to the families of those who died when a Ukrainian airliner was shot down by Iranian Revolutionary Guards one year ago.

On the first anniversary of the crash, Ukraine and other countries jointly called for "a complete and thorough explanation ... including concrete measures to ensure that it will never happen again," according to a statement.

"Our countries will hold Iran to account to deliver justice and make sure Iran makes full reparations to the families of the victims and affected countries," said the statement, made jointly with Afghanistan, Canada, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

 

Iran last week allocated $150,000 for the families of eachof the 176 victims of the Ukraine International Airlines plane shot down in Iranian airspace on January 8, 2020. Many victims were Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada.

"No one doubts that the lives of 176 civilians aboard apeaceful plane were criminally taken by two missiles," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a statement.

"It was impossible not to know then that it was a passenger plane in the air."

Describing Iran's handling of the situation as"unacceptable", Ukraine had earlier said the amount of compensation should be negotiated.

A Canadian adviser said on Thursday it was premature to discuss how much compensation to pay to relatives.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have said they accidentally shot down the aircraft shortly after takeoff, mistaking it for amissile when tensions with the United States were high.

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