Ukraine said on Thursday it had received the remains of 1,000 people Russia claims were Ukrainian soldiers, in one of the few areas where the two countries still cooperate nearly four years into the full-scale invasion.
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement that a repatriation operation took place earlier in the day, bringing home “1,000 bodies, claimed by the Russian side to belong to Ukrainian servicemen.”
Investigators and forensic experts will now work to identify the remains, the agency added.
Russian state media, citing unnamed sources, reported that Moscow handed over the bodies in exchange for the remains of 30 Russian soldiers.
According to publicly available data, Ukraine has received around 15,000 bodies from Russia since the start of the war. The previous repatriation of bodies took place on Oct. 23.
During earlier talks in Istanbul, Ukraine and Russia agreed to repatriate the bodies of fallen soldiers on a “6,000 for 6,000” basis.
The first exchange took place on June 11, when 1,212 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers who had died in the east and south of the country, as well as in Russia’s Kursk region, were returned, with another 1,200 on June 13, 1,200 more on June 14, and 1,000 on Aug. 19.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs said Russia often deliberately complicates the identification process by transferring severely damaged corpses, which on occasion have included the bodies of Russian troops.
Despite the challenges, the repatriation and identification of those who died defending Ukraine are considered one of Kyiv’s most essential and important, if difficult, missions.