Ukraine brings back bodies of 252 fallen soldiers from Russia
Photo: Exchange of bodies (Getty Images)
Ukraine has received from Russia the bodies of 252 people killed in the war, which the Russian side claims belong to Ukrainian service members, according to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
“On the shield: following repatriation efforts, the bodies of 252 people killed in the war have been returned to Ukraine. According to the Russian side, they belong to Ukrainian service members,” the statement said.
Law enforcement investigators, together with representatives of expert institutions, will carry out all necessary procedures to identify the repatriated remains.
Personnel from the Joint Center for Support of Civil-Military Cooperation Activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are transporting the bodies to specialized state institutions. They will then hand them over to law enforcement agencies within the Interior Ministry system and to forensic medical experts within the Health Ministry system.
On June 15, the latest stage of repatriation was completed. During that operation, the bodies of those killed were transported by rail. Under agreements reached in Istanbul, subsequent stages were to take place by road.
Before that, Ukraine received the bodies of 1,212 people killed in the war on June 11 and another 1,200 on June 13.
We also reported that Russia had claimed an exchange of bodies in a “6,000 for 6,000” format had supposedly begun, but Kyiv denied the claim.
Vladimir Rogov, head of a commission at Russia’s Civic Chamber, claimed that 503 bodies had been handed over to Ukraine. The Coordination Headquarters dismissed those statements as manipulation.
