Ukrainian authorities said Friday that they received 1,200 unidentified bodies from Russia as part of an agreement reached during peace talks in Istanbul.
“The bodies of 1,200 deceased persons were returned to Ukraine,” Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement. “According to the Russian side, the bodies belong to Ukrainian citizens, including military personnel.”
Russia announced last week that it would unilaterally transfer the bodies of 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers, a move Ukraine has described as an “exchange.”
The agreement appeared in doubt over the weekend after Russia accused Ukraine of failing to collect the first set of bodies, while Ukrainian officials accused Moscow of playing a “dirty political game.”
Earlier this week, Russia said it handed over the remains of 1,212 Ukrainian soldiers in the first stage of the arrangement.
The transfer of bodies and ongoing prisoner swaps are the only tangible outcomes from two rounds of direct peace talks in Istanbul.
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