Ukraine denied on Friday allegations that...

An Il-76 cargo plane carrying 35 tons of weaponry was seized during refueling at Bangkok"s Don Muang airport on December 12. Officials said the weapons included portable anti-aircraft missile systems and spare parts for ground-to-air missiles shipped from N. Korea to an unknown destination.

The Kazakh and Belarusian crew of the plane who are being held in custody have said they were unaware of the military nature of the cargo. The crew captain, Kazakh national Ilyas Isakov, claimed that the crew had been hired by the Ukrainian Aviatek company, "which charted the plane."

Ukraine"s National Security Council carried out an investigation into these allegations and concluded on December 24 that the Il-76 seized in Thailand did not belong to any legitimate Ukrainian company.

"The probe [into the incident] established that officially authorized Ukrainian arms exporters or air carriers have not been involved in events linked to the arms-laden Il-76 plane seized in Thailand,"

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