Russia transfers remains of 522 Ukrainian soldiers to Kyiv

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged the remains of more than 550 soldiers killed in the ongoing war, according to a senior Russian lawmaker.

Shamsail Saraliyev, a member of Russia’s State Duma from the ruling United Russia party and part of a parliamentary group focused on the conflict, said Ukraine received 522 bodies of its servicemen, while 33 Russian soldiers’ remains were handed over in return, Caliber.Az reports, citing The Moscow Times.

Ukrainian officials did not immediately confirm the reported exchange.

In a similar transfer last month, Kyiv authorities said Russia had returned the bodies of 528 Ukrainian troops, while Russian media reported that Ukraine handed back 41 Russian servicemen.

That earlier exchange took place alongside a prisoner-of-war swap mediated by the United Arab Emirates.

Another POW exchange, also facilitated by the UAE, was carried out later in June.

The repatriation of fallen soldiers and prisoner exchanges remain among the few areas of limited humanitarian cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov