KYIV – The downing of a Ukrainian International Airlines airliner in Iran on January 8 with the loss of 176 lives has continued to dominate domestic and international headlines.
On January 16, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne chaired a gathering in London of a newly formed international coordination and response group that includes four other countries that lost citizens in the downing of UIA Flight 752: Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan and Britain. The group of grieving nations has drafted a framework for working with Iran on the disaster.
Apart from Iranian nationals, the largest group of foreigners on the doomed plane were Canadian citizens. Also killed were 11 Ukrainians, including nine crew members. Kyiv and Ottawa have been working very closely in the aftermath to develop the appropriate responses.