Ukraine Receives 252 Bodies in Repatriation Exchange With Russia

Ukraine has received the bodies of 252 people whom the Russian side claims to be Ukrainian service members, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported on October 22.

“As a result of repatriation measures, the bodies of 252 dead, who according to the Russian side belong to Ukrainian service members, were returned to Ukraine,” the headquarters said.

According to the headquarters, law enforcement officers, together with expert institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, will carry out all the necessary examinations and identify the repatriated bodies.

The headquarters thanked the International Committee of the Red Cross for its assistance and support. It also expressed special thanks to the personnel of the Joint Centre for Support of Prisoner-of-War Measures of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which transports the bodies to specialised institutions and coordinates their handover to law enforcement and forensic experts.

Earlier repatriations and identification

On October 2, Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Office of the President, said that more than 26,000 bodies and remains had been returned to Ukraine under repatriation measures, but a significant share of them remained unidentified. He said that after a meeting of the Coordination Council, it was agreed to create an interagency group to review problematic identification cases, to review the work of forensic examination bureaus, including in the regions, and to bring in international capacity for DNA examinations.