Ukraine says that Russia has returned the bodies of 77 soldiers, days after the crash of a Russian military transport plane threw doubt on the future of such exchanges. Moscow and Kyiv traded fresh accusations over the plane that Russia says was shot down by Ukraine forces in the border region of Belgorod, killing 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war. The black boxes from the military plane have been delivered to a special laboratory in Moscow for analysis, Russian state media said. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has called for full clarity over the crash, accusing Moscow of “playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners of war”. The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has lost an appeal against his arrest, Russian state news agencies report.

Source: The Guardian January 27, 2024 11:28 UTC