Ukrainian prosecutors call for an end to ‘shameless self-promotion’ & speculation about deadly plane crash in Iran

Ukrainian investigators have asked that people stop spreading unfounded claims about the deadly crash of its passenger airliner in Iran. The call comes amid a flood of rumors that the jet was downed by an Iranian missile.

The office of the Prosecutor General in Kiev has urged that everyone “refrain from speculations” concerning the plane crash.

We ask the politicians, the former prosecutors with no legal training or basic knowledge of criminal law and procedures to refrain from the shameless self-promotion on this tragedy.

The prosecutors stopped short of mentioning anyone by name but the statement was likely a rebuke of Yuriy Lutsenko, who, despite lacking a law degree, had served as the nation’s prosecutor-general for three years until he was dismissed last August. Lutsenko had earlier accused the prosecution of “burying its head in the sand” by treating the plane crash as an air traffic rules violation case, rather than a terrorist act.

Kiev-bound Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran airport on Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board. The tragedy occurred on the same day as Iran fired a volley of ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq that house US troops. The action was a response to the US drone strike that killed top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, along with several other Iranian and Iraqi officials, at Baghdad Airport.

This close sequence of events immediately sparked a flurry of speculation in the media as to whether Iran’s army could have shot the airliner by mistake. US president Donald Trump, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and their British counterpart Boris Johnson, have all suggested that that could have been the case.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky asked foreign partners to share their data, which could help the investigation. The Prosecutor General’s office confirmed on Friday that it had requested assistance from foreign governments.

Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko, who is meeting his American counterpart Mike Pompeo on Friday, tweeted that US diplomats have provided Ukraine with “important data that will be examined by our experts.”

Iran firmly denies the airliner was downed by a missile and says that it likely crashed due to some equipment failure or other issues on board.

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