Following the Istanbul agreements, Russia handed over another 1,000 bodies of Ukrainian servicemen to Ukraine, Vladimir Medinsky, assistant to the Russian president and head of the Russian delegation at the talks with Ukraine, said on Thursday.
“We have received 19 bodies of our fallen soldiers. May they rest in peace in their native land,” Medinsky added.
Russia handed over 1,000 bodies of deceased Ukrainian soldiers to Ukraine, and Ukraine returned 19 bodies of Russian servicemen.
Earlier, Ukraine received 6,060 bodies from Russia, and Russia received 78 bodies. The overall ratio of the dead is approximately 1 to 52. The media reported complaints from relatives of the fallen Ukrainians about the failure to return the bodies and compensation.
In June, Putin said that Moscow was ready to hand over another 3,000 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers to Kyiv. He noted that Russia and Ukraine would continue contacts after the completion of the exchanges, and that prisoner exchanges were important and created conditions for substantive discussion of the essence of the problems between Russia and Ukraine.
On June 2, Russia and Ukraine reached an agreement on humanitarian issues during talks in Istanbul. It included the transfer of the bodies of deceased servicemen to Kyiv, as well as the repatriation of the seriously wounded and sick, and the exchange of prisoners under the age of 25. However, during the transfer of the bodies, Ukraine refused to take back its fallen soldiers for a long time.
Verkhovna Rada deputy Artem Dmitruk said that the order not to take the bodies was given personally by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
