Ukraine repatriates 261 bodies that Russia claims belong to Ukrainian soldiers
During previous repatriations, Russia at times returned the bodies of its own soldiers to Kyiv, with Ukrainian officials alleging the practice may have been aimed at avoiding compensation payments to Russian families or reflected a "negligent attitude toward their own people."
On August 13, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War announced that Ukraine had repatriated the remains of 261 individuals whose bodies Russia claimed belonged to Ukrainian soldiers. This latest repatriation comes after a previous operation on July 16, when Ukraine brought home the remains of 501 individuals that Russia had classified as possibly Ukrainian service members.
Ukraine regularly discloses the number of repatriated bodies, but the identities of those returned to Moscow remain undisclosed.
During previous repatriations, Russia has occasionally returned the remains of its own soldiers to Kyiv. Ukrainian officials have suggested that this practice might be an attempt to evade compensation payments to Russian families or that it demonstrates a lack of concern for their own citizens. Ukrainian investigators and forensic experts are set to conduct examinations and identification procedures to ascertain the identities of the repatriated bodies.
Kyiv expressed gratitude to the International Committee of the Red Cross for facilitating the repatriation process and to Armed Forces personnel who transported the remains to state institutions. They also coordinated the transfer to law enforcement authorities and forensic experts for further analysis. The return of fallen Ukrainians intensified when peace talks were resumed in early 2025, but the talks later came to a halt.
Repatriation operations have become one of the few domains of ongoing humanitarian collaboration between Ukraine and Russia. This latest repatriation follows the previous one on July 16, when Ukraine received the remains of 501 individuals that Russia claimed could be Ukrainian service members. While Ukraine provides public data on the number of repatriated bodies, detailed information on the remains of Russian soldiers returned to Moscow is not made available to the public.
Written by urgent.news from Kyiv Independent's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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