KYIV – Ukraine has received the bodies of 252 people in an exchange of war dead with Russia, the Ukrainian authorities said on Oct 22.
Russia received 25 bodies in return, Russian lawmaker Shamsail Saraliev was quoted as saying by the RBC news outlet.
The exchange of prisoners of war and fallen soldiers is one of the few areas of cooperation between the warring sides.
“As a result of repatriation measures, the bodies of 252 deceased have been returned to Ukraine,” said Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
The police and other officials would “carry out all the necessary procedures to identify the repatriated deceased”, it said.
It thanked the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for help facilitating the exchange, posting pictures on social media of several large white trailer trucks parked back to back, as workers in white, hooded jumpsuits emblazoned with the ICRC logo stood nearby.
The I Want to Live foundation, which is affiliated with Ukraine’s Intelligence Directorate and involved in managing Russia’s prisoners of war, meanwhile said “the remains of Russian servicemen were repatriated”.
Among them was the body of a Sri Lankan citizen, the organisation said, adding that he was sent to Russia since he was considered under international law as a combatant in the Russian army.
The exchanges of remains between the two sides take place regularly.
Earlier in October, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov estimated that more than 26,000 bodies and human remains had been repatriated to Ukraine through exchange operations.
Most of them are still awaiting identification.
According to official announcements from the two sides, Ukraine has received the remains of 5,300 people since the start of 2026 alone, while Russia has received fewer than 300.
The war, Europe’s worst conflict since World War II, has claimed tens of thousands of lives since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. AFP