Ukraine has received from Iran a draft technical report on the circumstances of the crash of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight PS752 near Tehran on January 8, 2020.
That's according to the Ukrainian online news outlet Obozrevatel referring to a statement by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
According to the minister, the papers were received on December 31, and now Ukraine has two months to deliver comments to the report.
"We've received the draft report on December 31, on New Year's Eve. There are two months for comments and remarks. This is a rather important stage for further progress, without which it would be impossible to achieve compensation and justice in general. Now the word is confirmed by deed," the minister said.
According to Kuleba, as for the amount of compensation, which has recently appeared in the information space, now it's only media reports. Ukraine has not heard any official statements on this matter from Iran.
"The experience of the last year has taught us to be extremely careful about the information in the Iranian media and, as they say, to filter every message. Until I receive an official offer from the Iranian government, we will not reckon with any news reports regarding the figures. I urge Ukrainians to do the same. There is too much information noise around the issue," Kuleba said.
When asked why the negotiation process between Ukraine and Iran, which admitted its guilt in the plane crash, has been going on for a year already, the minister pointed to the country's internal political problems.
"The delay can be explained by the purely internal political alignments in Iran. Not everyone there positively assessed the fact that the government had taken responsibility. We do not meddle in the internal affairs of Iran, we are committed to resolving the issue. Because this is not about politics, law or finance. This is a moral question before the families of the victims," Kuleba added.
PS752 downing in Iran: Background
On January 8, 2020, Kyiv-bound Boeing 737 passenger jet flight PS752, operated by Ukraine International Airlines, crashed in Iran shortly after takeoff from Tehran Airport.
Read alsoPS752 downing: Ukraine takes tough stance in talks with Iran – FM KulebaAll 176 people on board, including 11 Ukrainian nationals – nine crew and two passengers – were killed. Among victims are also citizens of Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany, and the UK.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani admitted that the Ukrainian liner had been shot down as a result of an unintentional "human error," and promised to bring those responsible to justice.
On June 9, media reports said Iran had accused six persons in the PS752 downing case.
On July 20, the flight recorders were delivered to Paris and decrypted on July 21.
On July 24, it was reported that data from the black boxes had confirmed external interference with the aircraft's operation.
On October 23, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Yenin said Iran would pay compensation to the relatives of victims of the UIA flight PS752 crash, but the process might last up to two years.
On December 9, however, Yenin said that Iran had withdrawn the offer to handle the payments to the families of those killed in the UIA plane crash.
In the middle of December, Canada expressed its position on the Iranian investigation into the downing of the Ukrainian plane, saying it is not credible.
On December 22, the Iranian news agency Tasnim reported that Iranian investigators, during a video conference, had provided representatives of other countries whose citizens were victims of the crash with a technical report on the UIA downing.
On December 23, Yenin said that Ukraine had not received the report.
On December 24, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba expressed concern that Iran was delaying the negotiation process on the case of the downed Ukraine International Airlines plane. He noted that Ukraine had not received a technical report from Iran on the plane downed almost a year ago.
On December 30, Iranian cabinet members reportedly agreed at a session to allocate US$150,000 or its equivalent in euros to each family of the victims of the Ukrainian plane crash in January 2020.
