Ukraine received the bodies of 1,245 of its killed soldiers today as part of the final stage of the implementation of the body exchange agreements reached with Russia in Istanbul, Reuters reported, citing Ukrainian authorities, BTA reported.
"Today is the final stage of the return of killed soldiers. "Since last week, when the implementation of the Istanbul agreements began, we have returned more than 6,000 bodies," Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said.
This is one of the largest exchanges of killed soldiers since Russian forces invaded Ukraine more than three years ago.
The handover of the bodies of soldiers is part of the agreements reached at the second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul earlier this month.
The head of the Russian delegation to the Istanbul talks, Vladimir Medinsky, said that Moscow had handed over to Ukraine the bodies of 6,060 Ukrainian servicemen. He said that Russia had received the bodies of 78 of its own soldiers.
Ukrainian authorities said that 6,057 bodies had been handed over. The Russian Defense Ministry said that Moscow was ready to hand over another 2,239 bodies to Ukraine.