Ukraine announced on Friday that it had received the bodies of 563 soldiers from Russian authorities, a significant exchange that primarily involved troops who had died in combat in the war-torn eastern Donetsk region.
The transfer marked one of the largest repatriations of Ukrainian military personnel since Russia’s invasion in 2022. Despite the ongoing conflict, the exchange of prisoners and the return of soldiers’ remains remain among the few areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv.“The bodies of 563 fallen Ukrainian defenders were returned to Ukraine,” the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War stated on social media. Of the repatriated remains, 320 came from the Donetsk region, with 89 soldiers identified as having died near Bakhmut, a town captured by Russian forces in May 2023 after a prolonged and brutal battle. Another 154 bodies were returned from morgues inside Russia, the statement revealed.Neither Ukraine nor Russia has publicly disclosed the full extent of their military losses during the conflict. However, this latest exchange underscores the heavy toll the war continues to take on both sides, particularly in fierce battlegrounds such as Donetsk and Bakhmut.
