The recent return of 77 fallen Ukrainian soldiers’ bodies from Russia has sparked fresh accusations between Moscow and Kyiv regarding the downing of a Russian military plane. The plane was said to have been shot down near the shared border, resulting in the deaths of 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war. While Kyiv has not outright denied these claims, it has subtly questioned whether its POWs were on board.

The repatriation of the bodies, unrelated to the downing of the plane, comes after extensive preparations and coordination between Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and multiple state institutions, including the International Committee of the Red Cross. According to the Geneva Conventions, soldiers who lost their lives during wartime are entitled to a dignified burial. An ongoing dispute revolves around Russia’s account of how the Ilyushin 76 military transporter crashed. Russia's Investigative Committee released video footage of the crash site, while Ukraine has dismissed the material as part of an information propaganda campaign against them.

As a result, Kyiv and Moscow have initiated criminal investigations, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calling for an international one. Although Kyiv has not confirmed its involvement in the crash or whether it was carrying captured Ukrainian soldiers, preparations for a prisoner exchange were underway. However, it was noted that Moscow had not informed Kyiv that the soldiers would be taken to the border by plane, as it had done in the past.

Amid these developments, Ukraine's army has vowed to continue targeting the Russian military in the border area where the plane was downed. The return of the soldiers' bodies serves as a somber reminder of the toll exacted by the ongoing conflict, with Ukraine still not disclosing the total number of soldiers killed in the full-scale invasion.