KIEV, January 10. /TASS/. The version stating that a missile downed a Ukrainian Boeing in Iran has neither been ruled out nor corroborated yet, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said on Friday.
"The missile strike on the plane is not ruled out but it has not been confirmed as yet either," he said via his Telegram channel.
The president underlined that in light of the latest statements of leaders published in media outlets Kiev is calling on all its international partners, primarily the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, to submit data and evidence regarding the tragedy to the commission investigating its causes.
Zelensky also informed that the commission continues working in Iran on Friday and that Kiev’s representatives are involved in this process. "We expect them to be provided with all the information and all accesses needed to conduct an objective investigation. We are in constant contact with our representatives," he added.
On Wednesday, Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 travelling from Tehran to Kiev went down near the Iranian capital shortly after takeoff from the Imam Khomeini International Airport. All people onboard, 167 passengers and 9 crewmembers, were killed. Most victims were Canadian and Iranian citizens. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadim Pristaiko announced on his Twitter page that nationals of Iran, Canada, Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan, German and the UK were among those who died in the air tragedy.
On Thursday, the US Newsweek magazine reported that the Ukrainian aircraft could have been downed by missiles launched by Iranian air defense systems. The publication cited preliminary information gathered by the Pentagon and US intelligence services. Meanwhile, Iran strongly condemned the accusations put forward by the US and a number of other countries that its air defense missiles brought down the plane.