Ukraine has received the bodies of 1,000 soldiers from Russia, including five who died in captivity, under a prisoner and body exchange deal reached in Istanbul.
Russia has returned the bodies of 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers, including five who died in captivity, officials in Kyiv and Moscow confirmed on Tuesday.
Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said the handover followed agreements reached during peace talks in Istanbul earlier this summer. The soldiers died in battles across Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia, as well as in Russia’s border region of Kursk, briefly occupied by Ukrainian forces last August.
Kremlin adviser and chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky confirmed the deal, noting that Russia also received 19 bodies. “Just like a month ago,” he said, referencing a similar exchange on July 17.
Ukraine accused Russia of delaying agreed exchanges, stressing that five of the repatriated were on lists of severely wounded soldiers due for swap.
Talks in Istanbul had set terms for exchanging 6,000 bodies each, though no ceasefire deal was reached. Ukrainian authorities said investigators and experts will work to identify the returned soldiers.