Kyiv has announced the repatriation of the bodies of 1,212 Ukrainian soldiers from Russia, conducted as part of an ongoing prisoner exchange agreement between the two warring nations. In reciprocal action, Moscow’s chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, confirmed that Russia had received 27 bodies.
This significant body exchange represents the sole tangible outcome of recent peace talks held in Turkey last week. During these discussions, both sides reportedly committed to handing over as many as 6,000 deceased combatants each, in addition to sick and severely wounded prisoners of war, and those aged under 25. Medinsky further indicated that Russia is poised to commence exchanging “severely wounded prisoners” on Thursday.
According to Ukraine’s co-ordination centre for the treatment of prisoners of war, the returned Ukrainian soldiers originated from various regions, including Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.
The centre stated on Telegram that it would “establish the identities of the deceased as soon as possible.” This is not an isolated incident within the conflict; thousands of bodies have already been repatriated through more than 70 separate exchanges since the war began.
This particular exchange follows several days of public accusations from Moscow, alleging that Ukraine was neglecting to collect bodies that Medinsky claimed had been held in refrigerated trucks at an exchange point since Saturday.
Medinsky had also stated on Saturday that Ukraine had “unexpectedly postponed” the prisoner swaps. In response, Ukraine accused Russia of employing “dirty tricks” and “manipulating the facts.”
The initial round of exchanges took place on Monday, leading to emotional scenes as families of missing Ukrainian soldiers gathered near the border with Belarus, pressing returning prisoners for any information regarding their loved ones.
While soldiers from both sides were exchanged that day, neither Russia nor Ukraine disclosed the exact number of individuals swapped.
