It is one of the rare areas of cooperation between the two warring countries. Kiev announced on Saturday that Russia had returned 528 bodies believed to be those of Ukrainian soldiers killed in combat.
« À Following repatriation efforts, the bodies of 528 deceased individuals have been brought back to Ukraine; according to the Russian side, they may be Ukrainian military personnel  », stated the Ukrainian Center for Prisoner of War Affairs on social media, without specifying the date of receipt of the remains.
Investigators and experts « will take all necessary steps to identify the repatriated deceased persons », added the Center. The day before, Russia and Ukraine exchanged 205 prisoners of war from each side.
One thousand prisoners exchanged from each side
Last Friday, Donald Trump announced a three-day truce in the conflict between Kiev and Moscow, from Saturday to Monday, as well as an exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Friday’s exchange was « the first phase » of this announcement by Donald Trump.
Since the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine over four years ago, exchanges of prisoners and the bodies of fighters have been among the very few areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kiev.
Ukraine and Russia resumed their respective strikes from Monday night to Tuesday. One person was killed on Saturday in a Ukrainian drone attack in the Belgorod region, near the Ukrainian border, as reported by regional authorities.
