Ukraine said on Thursday that it had received the remains of 1,000 people from Russia, whom Moscow claimed were Ukrainian soldiers killed while fighting Russian forces.
The exchange of prisoners of war and the repatriation of fallen soldiers’ remains remain among the few areas of limited cooperation between Kyiv and Moscow, despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“Today, repatriation measures took place, under which 1,000 bodies of the deceased, which the Russian side claims belong to Ukrainian defenders, were returned to Ukraine,” Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement posted on social media.
Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky confirmed that the exchange had taken place, saying on Telegram that Russia had received the remains of 38 Russian soldiers in return.
Medinsky added that the exchange was carried out under agreements reached between Ukrainian and Russian delegations during talks held in Istanbul last year.
Tens of thousands of soldiers are believed to have been killed on both sides since the war began, although neither country regularly publishes official casualty figures.
