TASS: Exchange of bodies of soldiers between Russia and Ukraine

Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky noted that on Thursday, Moscow and Kiev will begin urgent "sanitary exchanges" of heavily wounded prisoners of war.
Photo: © Official Telegram channel of the Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky/TASS

Moscow has handed over 1,212 bodies of Ukrainian servicemen to Kiev and received 27 bodies of fallen Russian soldiers in return, Russian Presidential Aide, head of the Russian delegation at the Istanbul talks Vladimir Medinsky said.

He also noted that on Thursday, Moscow and Kiev will begin urgent "sanitary exchanges" of heavily wounded prisoners of war.

TASS has compiled key facts about the situation.

Handover of bodies

- Moscow has handed over to Kiev 1,212 remains of Ukrainian servicemen and received 27 bodies of Russian soldiers.

- Work on exchanging the bodies of the fallen troops between Russia and Ukraine will continue.

Urgent 'sanitary swaps'

- Medinsky announced that on Thursday, Moscow and Kiev will launch urgent "sanitary exchanges" of heavily wounded captives.

Agreements and other exchanges

- Earlier, Medinsky reported that, in strict accordance with the Istanbul agreements, on June 6, Russia began implementing its humanitarian initiative on handing over to Ukraine over 6,000 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers as well as on swapping prisoners of war with serious injuries or under the age of 25.

- However, the Ukrainian side suddenly postponed indefinitely both receiving the bodies and exchanging the captives.

- On June 9, the first group of Russian servicemen under the age of 25 returned from the territory controlled by the Kiev regime. The same number of Ukrainian POWs was handed over in exchange.

- On June 10, Russia brought back a second group of servicemen from Ukrainian territory, returning to Ukraine the same number of Ukrainian POWs.

…The Kiev regime’s refusal to accept the bodies of Ukrainian service members represents a disgrace for the country and makes it clear that its ruling elite has no sense of humanity left, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, TASS reports.

"There is not a single world religion, tradition or human experience that would not require the bodies of warriors to be taken back. This is a disgrace for the entire country. This highlights the great tragedy that people are facing today, having lost their dignity because of liberal ideas," she emphasized, addressing the Forum of the Future 2050.

"In all these years, there has never been clearer evidence of the Kiev regime and its sponsors losing their human nature," Zakharova stressed. "It’s not even their attitude to the living but their attitude to the dead that says it all," she noted.

"The West is using the Kiev neo-Nazis to kill people," the diplomat went on to say. "I could say our people, our fellow citizens. But in fact, it is killing everyone, including those it considers its own. Moreover, it refuses to accept them, while Russia recovers their bodies, identifies them and insists that they be taken back to be buried," Zakharova underlined.

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