Ukraine brings back 1,000 fallen soldiers as exchanges with Russia continue

The bodies of 1,000 deceased Ukrainian soldiers have been repatriated to Ukraine, the country’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War announced on August 19 via Telegram.

According to the headquarters, among the repatriated are the remains of five Ukrainian servicemen who died in captivity. These soldiers had been listed as “seriously wounded and seriously ill” prisoners of war scheduled for exchange under the agreements reached in Istanbul during the second round of negotiations.

“In the near future, law enforcement investigators, together with expert institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, will carry out all necessary examinations and identify the repatriated bodies,” the headquarters stated.

This latest transfer follows a prisoner exchange carried out on August 14, when Russia and Ukraine each released 84 individuals. The Russian Defence Ministry noted that the United Arab Emirates played a role in mediating that swap on humanitarian grounds.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the exchange, stressing that those returned to Ukraine included civilians held since 2014, 2016, and 2017, as well as military personnel, including defenders of Mariupol. According to Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters, the exchange brought home 33 servicemen and 51 civilians.

The framework for prisoner exchanges was established in early June, when Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Istanbul and agreed to focus on the return of seriously wounded soldiers, prisoners between the ages of 18 and 25, and the transfer of fallen soldiers’ remains. The first exchanges under this agreement began on June 9, followed by another round on July 4.

Russian officials also stated that in mid-June, so-called “indefinite sanitary exchanges” were initiated, enabling the transfer of wounded soldiers without preconditions, though specific details of these arrangements were not made public.

By Tamilla Hasanova