1,200 more bodies returned to Ukraine under repatriation deal
Ukraine has received the bodies of 1,200 deceased individuals as part of ongoing repatriation efforts, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported.
The Coordination Headquarters said the bodies, according to the Russian side, belonged to Ukrainian citizens, including soldiers. The repatriation was conducted under agreements reached in Istanbul.
Ukrainian law enforcement officials, along with Interior Ministry forensic experts, will now carry out examinations to identify the bodies.
Earlier, on June 11, the Coordination Headquarters reported the return of 1,212 fallen service members from the Kursk, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts.
More about exchanges
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said Ukraine and Russia agreed on June 2, during the second round of talks in Istanbul, to exchange all severely wounded and seriously ill prisoners of war, as well as all soldiers aged 18 to 25.
The sides reportedly agreed to focus not on numbers, but on specific categories of POWs in an “all for all” format.
On June 9, a group of Ukrainian defenders under the age of 25 was returned to Ukraine. The following day, another group of severely wounded and ill Ukrainian soldiers was brought back.
On June 12, a new group of prisoners requiring medical treatment was repatriated. Among them were service members from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including the Air Assault Forces, Navy, Air Force, Territorial Defense Forces, State Special Transport Service, as well as the State Border Guard Service and National Guard.
The total number of repatriated military personnel has not yet been disclosed.
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