A Ukrainian delegation is to visit the Ukraine on Wednesday and Thursday of this week to discuss the matter of compensation in relation to the downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet at the beginning of the year.
It was at 06.12 local time on January 8 this year that Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 took off from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport with 176 passengers and crew on board. The Boeing 737-8KV was destined for Boryspil International Airport in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. At the time, Iran was on the highest state of defensive alert subsequent to its retaliation against America’s killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani through missile attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq. After the Ukrainian jet was shot down, and after many weeks of pressure from external actors, Iranian officials ultimately admitted that the jet had been mistaken for an American missile and was shot down with a surface-to-air missile, killing all on board.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has confirmed that Ukraine will represent all countries and groups affected by the crash. Of the 167 passengers, 82 were confirmed to be Iranian, 63 were Canadian, three were British, four were Afghan, 10 were Swedish, and three were Afghan nationals who lived in Germany as asylum seekers. Eleven Ukrainians were also onboard, nine of them being the crew.
