You're reading: Relatives of two Ukrainians killed in Petrozavodsk air crash arrive in Russia to identify bodies

The relatives of two Ukrainians who died in a plane crash in Petrozavodsk have arrived in Russia to identify the bodies, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Dykusarov has said.

"Yesterday the relatives of the deceased Ukrainians came from Kharkiv to Moscow, and today at 1100 Moscow time, they will leave for Petrozavodsk on board a Russian Emergencies Ministry plane to identify the bodies," he told Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.

He noted that Ukrainian diplomats were providing the necessary assistance and support to the relatives.

Dykusarov said that Russia had not confirmed reports about Ukrainian children who allegedly survived in the crash.

He also noted that the lists of the Russian Emergencies Ministry pointing to the death of three Ukrainians were being specified.

The Ukrainian media, referring to the press service of the Russian president’s commissioner for children’s rights, Pavel Astakhov, reported earlier that of the 52 people, who were on board the plane, there were four children and two of them, allegedly Ukrainians, survived.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported that two Ukrainians had been killed in the plane crash. Later, the Russian Emergency Ministry published the lists of victims pointing to the death of three Ukrainians.

A Tu-134 plane crashed near Petrozavodsk in the early hours of June 21. According to the Russian Emergencies Ministry, 44 people were killed in the crash and eight sustained various injuries. The ten-year-old Anton Teriokhin, who was injured in the crash, died at the children’s republican hospital of Karelia early on Wednesday. The death toll rose to 45.