KYIV - The bodies of the 11 Ukrainian citizens who died when a passenger plane was accidentally shot down by Iran this month have returned to Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looked on on Sunday as coffins draped in the country's flag were carried from a Ukrainian military plane to a waiting hearse at Boryspil International Airport, east of the capital, Kyiv.
Relatives came to the airport carrying bunches of flowers and airline staff, some in tears, were waiting on the tarmac. Prime Minister Oleksiy Goncharuk and other officials also attended the solemn ceremony.
The funerals are expected to be held on Monday.
All 176 people on board the Ukraine International Airlines flight from Tehran to Kyiv were killed when the Boeing 737-800 was shot down on January 8 at a time of sky-high tensions between Iran and the United States.
Most of those on board were Iranians or dual nationals. Fifty-seven Canadians were among those killed.
At the ceremony in Kyiv on Sunday, soldiers held up flags representing the different nationalities of those who died. (Aljazeera)