Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other on the crash of the Russian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 that occurred on Tuesday in the border region of Belgorod.

Moscow accuses Kiev of shooting down the plane, killing all 74 on board, including 65 Ukrainian military prisoners who were to be exchanged for Russian prisoners. Yesterday the Russian Investigative Committee announced that the Russian transport aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile, launched from Ukraine.

Kiev has neither confirmed nor denied that its forces shot down the plane and emphasized that there is no proof of the identities of the passengers on the plane. He disputed Moscow’s claims and called for an international investigation.

Russia’s Investigative Committee reported that human organs were collected and sent for genetic analysis, and some of them bore distinctive tattoos like those of Ukrainian prisoners interrogated by Russia.

The Commission emphasized that data collected also included “Identities of Ukrainian soldiers who died in the crash, confirming their identity, as well as supporting documents from the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service.

Russian authorities have exclusive access to the crash site and Moscow’s claims and accounts cannot be verified by other independent sources.

Ukraine refused a Russian claim that he had received a warning that a plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners would be flying over the Belgorod region at the time of the crash.

He also pointed to inconsistencies in an alleged list of the names of 65 Ukrainians published in Russian media, saying some of them were soldiers who had already been repatriated in a previous prisoner exchange.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today he was unaware that any official list had been published. Asked if Russia would provide the UN Security Council and other international organizations with evidence that Ukraine shot down the plane, Peskov replied: “I have nothing to add yet. The investigators are working, decisions will be made after the investigators get all the necessary information.”

Russian state media reported that the black boxes recovered from the plane had been handed over to a special defense ministry laboratory in Moscow and investigators were already processing them.