Ukraine Receives 1,200 Bodies of Fallen Soldiers from Russia

Ukraine has received the remains of 1,200 individuals from Russia, according to an announcement made on Saturday by the Ukrainian government.

The transfer was part of an agreement reached during peace negotiations held in Istanbul earlier this month.

The Ukrainian agency overseeing the issue confirmed that the bodies include both civilians and soldiers, as claimed by the Russian side.

This marks one of the largest exchanges of war casualties since the conflict began over three years ago.

In total, three such exchanges have taken place since the June talks, including the return of 1,212 bodies on Wednesday and the latest 1,200 on Friday.

These steps follow a rare agreement between the two nations to exchange wounded soldiers, prisoners of war under the age of 25, and the remains of combatants.

Russia, for its part, announced on Wednesday the recovery of the remains of 27 of its own troops but did not report any further exchanges over the weekend.

Despite ongoing tensions, the repatriation of fallen soldiers and prisoner swaps remains one of the few areas of cooperation between Kyiv and Moscow. However, recent days have seen both sides accuse each other of obstructing these humanitarian efforts.