UIA crash in Iran: Ukraine to conduct forensic analysis

The Prosecutor General's Office has appointed the conduct of comprehensive forensic analysis of the UIA’s Tehran-Kyiv flight crash in Iran and insists on creation of the international investigation team.

“The Prosecutor General's Office intensifies the pre-trial investigation within the criminal proceedings over downing UIA’s Tehran-Kyiv PS752 flight in Iran on January 8, 2020, and insists on the creation of the international investigative team that would significantly speed up and increase the efficiency of the investigation,” the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office reports.

It is noted that prosecutors of the department of crimes committed amidst armed conflict appointed the conduct of comprehensive forensic analysis. The purpose of its conduct is to elaborate on the causes of the plane crash, to find out the circumstances of TOR-M1 missile hit.

In addition, the information about the flights that departed before Boeing 737 from the Tehran Airport will be analyzed and a number of investigative and other procedural actions are planned to be held within the framework of the criminal proceedings.

At the same time, the issue of transfer of flight recorders, which may contain crucial information, to the Ukrainian side remains unresolved.

The Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) plane (Flight PS752) heading from Tehran to Kyiv crashed shortly after taking off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport at about 06:00 Tehran time (04:30 Kyiv time) on January 8. There were 176 people on board – nine crew members (all Ukrainians) and 167 passengers (citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany, and the UK). They all died.

Last month, an Iranian official at the International Civil Aviation Organization agreed to hand over flight recorders to France or Ukraine for analysis, but this has not been done so far.

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