Ukraine and Russia to continue exchanging bodies independently of Istanbul agreements
Photo: Ukraine and Russia will continue exchanging the bodies of the fallen (t.me/Koord_shtab)
Ukraine and Russia will continue exchanging the bodies of the fallen, but in a new format. It will no longer be tied to the negotiations in Istanbul, states Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, during the national telethon live broadcast.
"As for the repatriation under the Istanbul agreements, Ukraine has received from the aggressor state the bodies of 6,000 deceased individuals who, according to the Russians, were Ukrainian citizens, including defenders. The process of identification and verification is ongoing — this has been thoroughly commented on by the Ministry of Internal Affairs —so the work in this direction is not finished and will continue," Yusov said.
At the same time, the Defense Intelligence representative noted that the countries will continue exchanging the bodies of the fallen.
"Repatriation efforts will continue in a different format, independently of the Istanbul agreements," he added.
Return of the bodies of Ukrainian defenders
Вuring the second meeting in Türkiye, Ukraine and Russia reached an agreement on a large-scale exchange of the bodies of fallen defenders. The sides agreed on a 6000 for 6000 format.
The first stage of the exchange took place on June 11, when Ukraine recovered the bodies of more than a thousand fallen soldiers. These included those who died in the east, south, and also in Russia’s Kursk region.
The next stage of repatriation took place on June 13, with Ukraine receiving the bodies of 1,200 individuals, most of whom were servicemen.
In addition, another 1,200 bodies of deceased citizens were returned to Ukrainian territory on Sunday, June 15. This marked the fourth stage of the repatriation efforts following the negotiations in Istanbul.
