Kyiv said on Friday that it had received the remains of more than 1,000 people from Russia, which Moscow claims were Ukrainian soldiers killed while fighting Russian forces.
“Today, repatriation activities took place. A total of 1,003 bodies, which the Russian side claims belong to Ukrainian servicemen, have been returned to Ukraine,” the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement on social media.
The statement added that investigators and expert institutions under the interior ministry will carry out all necessary examinations and identify the repatriated remains.
Exchanges and repatriations of bodies have continued intermittently between Ukraine and Russia despite the absence of broader progress toward ending the war.
According to publicly available data, Ukraine has received around 16,000 bodies from Russia since the start of the war. The previous repatriation of bodies took place on Nov. 20.
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.
Ukraine’s 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.