UIA plane downing by Iran: Ukraine, international experts accuse Tehran of sham justice

The Ukrainian MFA reported the information in a joint statement of the International Coordination and Response Group for the victims of Flight PS752 on the criminal trials in Iran.

"The sham trials that took place in Tehran must not distract the world from Iran’s failure to meet its international obligations and take responsibility for its actions. Neither the trials nor the verdicts announced this week bring truth or justice to the families of the victims, as the entire process starting with Iran’s biased investigation into the downing lacked the necessary impartiality and transparency," the ministry writes.

The MFA emphasizes it will lead diplomatic efforts in this direction to achieve justice.

"The families of the 176 innocent victims are still waiting for the justice they deserve. We continue to stand in solidarity with the families and loved ones of the victims of the downing of Flight PS752 and will not rest until justice has been served," the statement reads.

• The UIA plane was shot down on January 8, 2020, shortly after takeoff from Tehran by two surface-to-air missiles. As a result, all 176 people on board were killed. Iran claimed responsibility for the downing of the Ukrainian plane.

• On July 18, 2020, Iran sent the black boxes from the Ukrainian International Airlines plane shot down near Tehran to France for examination. In January 2021, Iran handed over a draft technical report on the downing of the UIA plane to Ukraine.

• On February 10, 2021, it became known that the Canadian government and security agencies were studying an audio recording in which a person identified by sources as Iran's foreign minister discusses the possibility that the downing of Flight PS752 was a deliberate act. Iran called the recording fake. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said that Iran is hiding important information in the case of the downing of the UIA plane.

• On March 17, 2021, Iran released the final report on the downing of the UIA plane near Tehran, Kuleba called the document a "compilation of manipulations." 

• The Supreme Court of the Canadian province of Ontario recognizes the downing of a UIA plane in Iran as a deliberate act of terrorism.

• On November 25, 2021, an international group consisting of Canada, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom called on Iran to pay full reparations for the downing of Flight PS752. On January 6, 2022, Iran refused to negotiate with the international group.

• On January 8, 2022, Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Oleksii Danilov said that the UIA plane crash over Tehran in 2020 had all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack.

• On November 17, 2022, a court in The Hague announced a verdict that the Russian-controlled "DPR", Igor Girkin and his subordinates, Serhiy Dubinsky and Leonid Kharchenko, were responsible for the MH17 tragedy.
• On February 8, 2023, prosecutors found evidence that Putin had agreed to supply the DPR terrorists with the missile that shot down the plane.

• In April 2023, an Iranian court sentenced 10 military personnel to prison in connection with the crash of a UIA passenger plane over Tehran in 2020.