Russia and Ukraine exchanged the bodies of 950 fallen soldiers, officials from both countries announced Friday, marking the second such swap in less than a month.
Russia received the remains of 41 soldiers, State Duma lawmaker Shamsail Saraliyev told the RBC news website. Ukraine, meanwhile, repatriated the bodies of 909 servicemen, according to the government’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
The Ukrainian soldiers were reportedly killed on the front lines in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions, as well as in the northeastern Sumy region, where Ukraine claims Russian forces are preparing a new offensive.
Exchanges of war prisoners and fallen servicemen remain among the few ongoing areas of cooperation between the two warring countries since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago.
Friday’s swap follows a March 28 exchange of 909 Ukrainian soldiers’ bodies for 43 Russian soldiers’ bodies. It is the eighth exchange involving the remains of 500 or more Ukrainian soldiers since October.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CBS News on Sunday that up to 100,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed since February 2022. Russia has not updated its official casualty count since the fall of 2022, when it acknowledged fewer than 6,000 combat deaths.
An independent count by Mediazona and BBC News Russia has identified the names of around 100,000 dead Russian soldiers based on publicly available information.
AFP contributed reporting.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
