Ukraine receives 1,212 fallen soldiers in body swap with Russia

Ukraine has received the bodies of 1,212 soldiers from Russia in one of the largest body swaps since the war began, officials in Kyiv have confirmed.

The exchange, which also saw Russia receive 27 bodies, was part of a recent prisoner swap agreement between the two sides following talks in Turkey. The deal also included plans to hand over sick and severely wounded prisoners of war, along with those under the age of 25.

Ukraine's co-ordination centre for the treatment of prisoners of war thanked the Red Cross for its help in facilitating the return of the bodies. The centre said the soldiers came from several regions including Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

“We will establish the identities of the deceased as soon as possible,” the centre said in a statement on Telegram.

Russia’s chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky, who announced the deal, said Moscow would begin exchanging "severely wounded prisoners" on Thursday.

He also claimed the prisoner swap agreement was the only concrete outcome of the peace talks held last week in Turkey.

This exchange followed a series of accusations from Moscow, where Russian officials claimed Ukraine had failed to collect the bodies.

Medinsky said some had been stored in refrigerated trucks at an exchange point since Saturday.

He further alleged that Ukraine had “unexpectedly postponed” the prisoner swaps. In response, Ukrainian officials accused Russia of using "dirty tricks" and manipulating the facts.

The body exchange is one of more than 70 repatriations that have taken place during the conflict.

The first round of swaps under this latest agreement began on Monday, with emotional scenes reported at the Ukraine-Belarus border as families of missing soldiers gathered in hopes of learning about their loved ones.

Despite soldiers being exchanged on both sides that day, neither government revealed the exact number of prisoners involved.