Ukraine Receives 1,200 More Bodies from Russia Under Ongoing War Dead Exchange Deal

Report by “Safarti Tarjuman” International News Desk

KYIV — Ukraine has confirmed the repatriation of another 1,200 bodies from Russia, under a war dead exchange deal reached earlier this month in Istanbul, according to Ukrainian authorities.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War announced the latest transfer on Sunday, stating that the remains include military personnel, as claimed by the Russian side. The operation forms part of a larger humanitarian initiative to recover the deceased from both sides of the ongoing war.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov acknowledged the development on Facebook, noting that a total of 4,812 bodies have been returned in the past week. He expressed gratitude to all those involved in facilitating the sensitive and critical exchanges.

The mass repatriation follows the June 2 Istanbul negotiations, where Ukraine and Russia agreed to resume large-scale exchanges of prisoners of war and fallen combatants. However, Ukraine has not disclosed whether it has returned any bodies to Russia during this round of exchanges.

While military and civilian losses continue to mount, both sides have remained largely silent on official casualty numbers.

President Volodymyr Zelensky previously stated that over 46,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed, with 380,000 wounded since the Russian invasion. Meanwhile, Russia has not updated its official fatality figures since September 2022, when it claimed fewer than 6,000 deaths—a number widely dismissed as inaccurate.

Independent investigations have painted a starkly different picture. Russian outlet Mediazona and the BBC’s Russian service have identified over 111,000 Russian casualties by name. Additionally, Mediazona and Meduza estimate that approximately 165,000 Russian soldiers had been killed as of December 31, 2024, using probate registry data as a reference.

Amid the devastation of prolonged warfare, the continued exchange of bodies underscores rare humanitarian cooperation between the two warring nations. Ukrainian officials have emphasized that these efforts are vital to upholding international humanitarian norms and providing closure to grieving families.

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