Ukraine wants larger compensation for its citizens killed in plane shootdown in Iran

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Kiev was not satisfied with a size of compensation Iran had offered to families of Ukrainians killed in the downing of a plane near Tehran last month and would seek larger payments.

"As for the Iranian side, they immediately offered us 80,000 U.S. dollars for each family… It is too small. We will press for a larger amount," Zelensky told Ukrainian "1+1" TV.

The airliner was struck by a missile on January 8 shortly after it left Tehran en route to Kiev. Iran admitted its forces had shot down the Ukraine International Airlines plane in error, after initially denying it had a role in the incident. All 176 people aboard, including 11 Ukrainians, were killed.

On Saturday, the two countries were reported to jointly analyse and read the black box of the downed plane in Iran as the Iranian foreign minister ruled out handing over the black boxes to other countries for decoding on January 22.

Thus Zelensky said Ukraine still was waiting for Iran to hand over the plane's black boxes.

(CGTN)