Russia on Thursday, September 18, returned 1,000 bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers, the kyiv government announced
“Repatriation measures took place today. 1,000 bodies, which according to the Russian side belong to Ukrainian servicemen, have been returned to Ukraine,” Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said on Telegram.
Ukraine also handed back the bodies of 24 Russian soldiers, according to another government body responsible for information on Russian prisoners of war and missing Russian soldiers.
The repatriation of soldiers’ bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war remain some of the few areas of cooperation between Ukraine and Russia amid the ongoing conflict
Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed on both sides since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, though neither country regularly publishes official casualty figures.
Ukraine’s “I Want to Find” project said the exchange of bodies was mediated by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Despite efforts led by the United States to end the conflict through diplomatic channels, including three rounds of direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow, progress toward stopping the fighting appears stalled. Last week, the Kremlin stated that peace talks between Russia and Ukraine were on “pause.”
