Ukraine receives the bodies of 1,212 fallen defenders

Ukraine has repatriated the bodies of 1,212 fallen servicemen. This was reported by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

Among the returned are those who fell in the Kursk, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.

The bodies of the repatriated soldiers will be sent to designated state forensic institutions for examination. The goal is to identify the deceased as quickly as possible.

It is worth noting that the exchange of bodies took place under the latest agreements between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul. Prior to this, two rounds of prisoner exchanges had also occurred. On the first day, June 9, a group of Ukrainian defenders under the age of 25 was returned. The following day, a group of seriously wounded and ill Ukrainian servicemen was brought back.

During the first round of talks in Istanbul on May 16, the Ukrainian and Russian delegations agreed to a “1,000 for 1,000” prisoner exchange. It was carried out in three stages from May 23 to May 25.

In total, since March 2022, 5,757 Ukrainians have been freed through such exchanges. An additional 536 Ukrainians have been returned outside of these exchanges.

Iryna Sitnikova

EMPR