Russia sneaks in dead soldiers: Ukrainian police expose deception during body exchange (photos)
Archive photo: Russia dumps the bodies of occupiers under guise of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during exchange of the dead (t.me/Koord_shtab)
During the identification of the bodies of the deceased, which Russia transfers within the framework of repatriation, there have been cases when remains of several different people are found in one bag, the First Deputy Head of the National Police, Maksym Tsutskiridze, stated to RBC-Ukraine.
In what condition the Russian Federation transfers the bodies
"Usually, the bodies are transferred in horrific condition. They show strong changes, massive mummification, skeletonization. It's simply a bag of bones. There are numerous cases where we record that in one bag with body fragments, after conducting examinations, we establish that they belong to different bodies, and accordingly document it," he said.
According to him, the National Police is currently engaged in identifying the remains. In particular, comprehensive work is being carried out using all available methods, including DNA analysis and dental examination.
Experts use comparative analysis and molecular genetic expertise. In most cases, investigators arrive at a final conclusion precisely thanks to DNA research, since, due to the condition of the bodies, visual identification is often impossible.
At the same time, according to the acting head of the Main Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination of the Ministry of Health (FME), Vitalii Povstianyi, in recent years there has been a negative trend in the condition in which Ukraine receives bodies from the Russian Federation.
"That is, the temperature regime and storage conditions are not observed. And this additionally complicates the identification process," he explained.
Russia sneaks in bodies of its own troops
According to the National Police, to date, there are already 20 confirmed cases where the Russian Federation transferred to Ukraine the bodies of its own military during repatriations in 2025.
"We mandatorily take DNA samples from these bodies and assign them for comparison in our databases. Given that we have only just begun this work, I predict that this number will grow," said Tsutskiridze.
He added that a large number of bodies are transferred by the Russians without any identifying marks. And based on the DNA results with these bodies, no matches are found. Therefore, this also allows us to say that such bodies may also belong to Russian military personnel.
Also, in the bodies transferred by the Russian side, police officers find items and documents indicating that these bodies indeed belong to the Russian army military personnel. These include dog tags, military IDs, passports, bank cards, uniforms. Also, individual tattoos that indicate belonging to the enemy.
Prisoner exchange
During the second round of negotiations in Istanbul, Ukraine and the Russian Federation agreed to return the bodies of the dead under the formula "6000 for 6000." Repatriation activities took place on June 11 and 13.
The first stage of such an exchange took place on June 11. Then Ukraine returned the bodies of 1,212 military personnel. These were defenders who died in battles in eastern and southern Ukraine, as well as in the Kursk region.
Also, on June 13, Ukraine received the bodies of 1,200 Ukrainians, including servicemen. And on Saturday, June 14, Ukraine returned from Russia the bodies of another 1,200 deceased citizens, including military personnel. The same number was returned on Sunday, June 15.
