Families of Flight PS752 victims say RCMP isn't doing enough to help Ukraine's criminal probe

With the two-year anniversary of the destruction of Flight PS752 coming up, the victims' families say the RCMP is not sharing evidence quickly enough with Ukraine — the only country conducting a criminal investigation into the tragedy. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired two surface-to-air missiles at the Ukraine International Airlines Flight on Jan. 8, 2020, shortly after takeoff in Tehran. All 176 people onboard died. Most had ties to Canada. The RCMP resisted calls to open its own criminal investigation. Instead, the police force opted to assist Ukraine's efforts. More than 120 RCMP members have been involved in the effort and have conducted 58 interviews, the RCMP told CBC News. But Hamed Esmaeilion, spokesperson for the association representing victims' families in Canada, says Ukraine's prosecutor's office and government have told him that "cooperation has not been great." Esmaeilion said Ukrainian officials told him that his testimony was not shared by the RCMP. "I have had several meetings with the RCMP and all of them were recorded, so they should have been passed to Ukraine, but they were not," he said. Esmaeilion's nine-year-old daughter and wife were among the Canadian victims. He travelled to Ukraine in the fall and met with Ukraine's prosecutor general and government officials. Esmaeilion said the officials told him the RCMP still hasn't passed on his testimony, recorded almost a year earlier.<br/>