Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky bid farewell to 11 Ukrainians killed in a plane mistakenly shot down by Iran earlier this month, the presidential office said Sunday.
The president, along with Parliament speaker Dmutro Razumkov, Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk and some other members of the government, arrived at Boryspil International Airport in Kiev to receive the bodies of nine crew members and two passengers.
The head of state expressed his sincere condolences to the families and relatives of the victims.
The officials laid flowers at the solemn ceremony at the airport. The honor guards held flags of the countries whose citizens were among the 176 aboard the ill-fated plane.
On the morning of Jan. 8, the Ukrainian Boeing-737 flying from Tehran to Kiev crashed shortly after taking off.
On Jan. 11, Iran admitted that it had "unintentionally" shot down the jetliner.