On Wednesday, Ukraine strongly reacted to a ‘fake report’ in Iran about Ukrainian passenger aircraft PS752 which was shot down by the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) air defense forces last year. Ukraine emphasized that it will not allow the Iranian government to flinch from its crime and responsibility of the downed Ukrainian aircraft.
The Foreign Minister of Ukraine on Wednesday, March 17, criticized the report of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization (CAO.IR) about the Ukrainian airliner. Ukraine considered it a neglected effort of Iranian government officials to hide real reasons for the crash of the Ukrainian aircraft.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on his Facebook page:
“What we saw in the published report today is nothing more than a cynical attempt to hide the true reasons for the downing of our plane. We will not allow Iran to hide the truth, we will not allow it to avoid responsibility for this crime.”
He added: “Today Iran publicly released the final report of the technical investigation of the downing of the UIA flight PS752 in the sky above Tehran. Previously, Ukraine sent Iran more than 90 pages of remarks and proposals to the draft final report and insisted on Iran including them into the final document, but what we saw published today – just a cynical attempt to hide the true causes of the downing of our passenger aircraft.
“We are forced to conclude that the investigation has been biased, presented proves are selective, and conclusions are deceptive. The document does not cover all the circumstances, it does not reveal neither causes of the tragedy nor the chain of events which led to it. This is not a report, this is a collection of manipulations, aimed not at establishing the truth, but to acquitting the Islamic Republic of Iran.
“Iran could not find the strength to take responsibility for ensuring that such tragedies do not repeat in the future. If Iran does not want to voluntarily demonstrate its willingness to establish the truth of the tragedy, we, together with our partners, will find ways to establish it. We will not let Iran to hide the truth or avoid responsibility for this crime. Justice will prevail, no matter how much effort and time it will take. This is not only a matter of principle, but also a moral obligation to the victims of this terrible tragedy.”
Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization introduced the incident in a 285-page report and announced the culprit of this crime to be the IRGC’s ‘air defense system’. According to the report, due to an error in geographical adjustment, it detected the passenger aircraft as a hostile target and fired two missiles towards it.
The passenger plane, which was supposed to operate flight PS752 on the Tehran-Kyiv route, was shot down near the Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran immediately after takeoff early in the morning on January 8, 2020.
On March 17, the International Coordination and Response Group for the victims of Flight PS752 issued the following joint statement which was published on the UK Government’s website:
“We, Ministers representing Afghanistan, Canada, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom, have taken note of the release of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s final safety investigation report into the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 (PS752).
“The Coordination Group countries will now carefully review this report and its findings. We stand in solidarity with the families and loved ones of the victims, who continue to grieve their profound loss.
“As we have done since the beginning, the Coordination Group will continue to seek accountability and transparency from the Islamic Republic of Iran for this tragedy and justice for the victims.”
