Zelensky to address Ukrainians over UIA plane tragedy

President Volodymyr Zelensky will address the Ukrainian people on Saturday, January 11, due to the situation with the downing of a Ukraine International Airlines passenger jet near Tehran, the Office of the President of Ukraine has reported on Facebook.

"The video address will be made after consultations of the head of state with a group of Ukrainian experts working at the site of the tragedy in Iran, international partners and a phone call with President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani, which is scheduled for 17:00 on Saturday," the statement said.

On January 11, Iran admitted that its military had accidentally shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet.

In this regard, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on Twitter that the crash had been caused by a "human error."

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani apologized for the shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger plane by the Iranian military, expressing his condolences to the families of the dead. He called the plane crash a disastrous mistake.

A Ukraine International Airlines plane (flight PS752), en route from Tehran to Kyiv, crashed shortly after take-off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport early on January 8. There were 176 people on board the aircraft. All of them died. The crash killed 11 Ukrainians (two passengers and all nine crew), 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, ten Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans, and three Britons.

op