Bodies of plane crash victims in Iran arrive in Ukraine

The remains of the 11 Ukrainians who died in the crash of Ukraine International Airlines' Boeing 737, shot down by Iran on the 8th, arrived on Sunday in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital.

The coffins of the nine crew members and two passengers were repatriated and received at a ceremony attended by the country's president, Volodymyr Zelenski, the prime minister, Alexei Goncharuk, and other officials.

Immediately after the PS752 flight from Tehran to Kiev, and up to 72 hours later, Iranian officials denied that it was an abatement caused by their military forces. However, on the 11th, the Armed Forces admitted that they shot down the plane by mistake, mistaking it for a missile.

On board the Boeing of Ukraine International Airlines, in addition to the nine Ukrainian crew, there were 167 passengers: 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, ten Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans, three Britons and two Ukrainians, all killed in the crash. Ukraine has demanded delivery of the plane's black boxes, which will be dealt with shortly, the Iranian civil aviation authority announced on Saturday.

The fall coincided with an increase in tensions between Iran and the United States after the assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in an attack authorized by U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran's subsequent attack on a base in Iraq with American troops.