High-ranking Russian officials who were supposed to be on the crashed transport plane did not board at the last minute under orders from Russia’s security agency, Ukraine has said.
Andriy Yusov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, told Radio Free Europe that FSB agents also expelled members of Russia’s emergency ministry from the crash site.
“They were not given the opportunity to inspect the site and locate the wreckage,” he told RFE.
Only five bodies were delivered to the local morgue in Belgorod, which corresponds with the number of Russian crew members on board, he added.
Russia had claimed 74 people were on board the plane, which erupted in a fireball when it hit the ground in the border region of Belgorod.
The names of those individuals who did not board the aircraft would be provided to an international investigation into the incident, Mr Yusov said.
Sky News cannot independently verify Mr Yusov’s comments.
