Russia has returned to Ukraine the bodies of 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed and received in exchange for the remains of 19 of its soldiers, said a Russian negotiator this Thursday, July 17, this type of exchange that constitutes one of the only results of the conversations between Moscow and Kyiv.
“In the framework of the agreements concluded in Istanbul, 1,000 bodies of soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have still delivered to Ukraine today,” Vladimir Medinski, head of the Russian delegation sent to these conversations on Telegram.
“We have received the bodies of 19 of our deceased soldiers. That they rest in peace in their homeland,” he added. He published photos that show people dressed with white medical combinations, placing mortuary bags in cooling trucks.
The Ukrainian center in charge of the prisoners of war confirmed that it has received “the bodies of 1,000 deaths.” “According to the Russian side, the bodies are those of the Ukrainian citizens, including soldiers,” he said, saying that checks and identification would be carried out.
Diplomatic efforts in neutral
Two cycles of conversations in May and then in June in Istanbul, Türkiye, did not make a way to finish the conflict. However, Moscow and Kyiv agreed to free hundreds of prisoners from each camp and make the remains of the combatants, the only tangible result of these negotiations.
The repatriation of the bodies of the soldiers and the exchanges of prisoners of war are the rare areas in which the two countries have been cooperating since the beginning of the offensive of the entire Russian in Ukraine in February 2022.
Despite the pressure of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, Russia rejects calls for the high fire desired by kyiv, and diplomatic efforts seem to be dead.
Source: BFM TV
