Ukraine has received no evidence indicating that a large number of prisoners of war were onboard the Il-76 military transport aircraft that crashed in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, said on air during the national joint 24/7 newscast, reported from Ukrainska Pravda.

"No, we don’t know. Based on the information I have, I can’t definitively conclude that there were indeed prisoners of war onboard. From analyzing photos and videos we’ve seen posted online… Well, I’m no expert [in this field], but if the Russians had any photos or videos showing [the bodies of] our prisoners of war, they would have used them by now [to support their claim]

We haven't seen any signs that there were a large number of people—citizens of Ukraine or otherwise—on the plane."

Lubinets also added that local maps and opinions of experts posted online suggest that the plane landed, took on new cargo and departed the airport again.

"In other words, it had a return flight path from that aerodrome. Experts should investigate this [detail]. In our opinion, international experts should be brought in to clearly determine what happened," the Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner said.

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