The remains of soldiers who died in the war between Russia and Ukraine were exchanged on Thursday, August 13. Russia handed over 261 remains and Ukraine 24.
Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for Prisoners of War confirmed that the exchange of remains with the Russian side had been completed. The headquarters said that, according to Russia’s statement, the 261 remains brought to Ukraine belonged to Ukrainian soldiers.
Identification and forensic examinations to be conducted
Representatives of forensic authorities and expert institutions will examine the remains brought to Ukraine to determine their identities. The transportation of the remains, their transfer to state institutions and the coordination of the forensic medicine process were carried out jointly by Ukraine’s security and defense structures.
The Coordination Headquarters for Prisoners of War, the Joint Center within the Security Service of Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Office of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights and the Secretariat of the Commissioner for Persons Missing under Special Circumstances took part in the process. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine and other security and defense institutions also participated in the work.
The headquarters thanked personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who helped transport the remains and deliver them to the relevant law enforcement and forensic medicine institutions. The International Committee of the Red Cross was also acknowledged for its support for the exchange.
The previous exchange took place on July 16
Moscow and Kyiv carried out the previous exchange of soldiers’ remains on July 16. In that exchange, 31 remains were handed over to Russia and 501 to Ukraine.
Yana Lantratova, a human rights official in Russia, announced at the end of July that a new exchange would take place but did not announce a date. Lantratova later said that Russia had agreed to include 224 Ukrainians described as having been convicted of crimes committed on Russian territory in the exchange list, and that Moscow was ready to hand over another 273 Ukrainian soldiers to Kyiv.
