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Russia and Ukraine Exchange Bodies of Over 530 Fallen Soldiers

International Red Cross personnel gather the bodies of Russian and Ukrainian servicemen. sb.by

Russia and Ukraine exchanged the remains of more than 530 soldiers killed during the war, the RBC news outlet reported Thursday, citing a Russian lawmaker.

Ukraine received 501 bodies of its soldiers while handing Russia the remains of 31 soldiers, Shamsail Saraliyev, a State Duma lawmaker from the ruling United Russia party and member of a parliamentary group dedicated to the conflict, told RBC.

The exchange took place near the border with Belarus, according to the Interfax news agency.

Ukraine has not yet confirmed the exchange.

RBC noted that this was the 13th swap of either fallen soldiers or prisoners of war since the start of 2026.

The return of fallen service members and the exchange of prisoners of war have been among the very few areas of humanitarian cooperation between Russia and Ukraine since the full-scale invasion in 2022.

Earlier on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky paid tribute to Ukrainian soldiers killed in the conflict during a visit by outgoing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Russia’s military accused its Ukrainian counterparts earlier this month of refusing a six-hour ceasefire on July 6 to facilitate the exchange of fallen soldiers.

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