Russia delivers remains of over 1,200 troops to Ukraine – sources

The transfer happened in line with the agreements reached in Istanbul earlier this month

Moscow has handed over the bodies of another 1,200 fallen Ukrainian troops to Kiev, RT has learned. There have been several exchanges already between the two sides during the week.

The transfer reportedly happened in line with agreements reached during talks in Istanbul earlier this month, sources told RT on Sunday.

The sources added that Kiev had not returned any Russian troop remains in the latest exchange.

During the negotiations in Türkiye on June 2, delegations from Moscow and Kiev agreed to carry out a series of prisoner swaps, focusing primarily on seriously injured, ill, and younger POWs. Russia also unilaterally decided to repatriate the bodies of more than 6,000 slain Ukrainian troops on humanitarian grounds.

POW swaps between the sides have taken place on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, with neither Moscow nor Kiev officially disclosing the number of prisoners they handed over and received.

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Russia initially tried to return the remains over the previous weekend, but Ukraine’s representatives failed to show up at the exchange point on the border between Belarus and Ukraine. Kiev later claimed that it had not agreed on the date of the transfer and accused Moscow of “using humanitarian issues for information purposes.”

The handover eventually began mid-week, with Ukraine receiving 1,212 bodies from Russia on Wednesday and 1,200 more on Friday.

According to Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who serves as Moscow’s chief negotiator in talks with Kiev, Ukraine has so far returned the bodies 27 slain Russian servicemen.