Ukraine says Russia returns 1,000 bodies in latest exchange

Kyiv says exchange of bodies with Russia comes as Ukraine claims advances in the east of the country.

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged the bodies of more than 1,000 soldiers who have fallen in battle, Ukrainian authorities have said.

The vast majority of the bodies were received by Ukraine from Russia, while the bodies of 24 Russian soldiers were handed over by Ukraine.

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“Repatriation measures took place today. 1,000 bodies, which according to the Russian side belong to Ukrainian servicemen, have been returned to Ukraine,” the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said on Telegram on Thursday.

Since the war between Ukraine and Russia began in February 2022, the repatriation of soldiers’ bodies and the exchange of prisoners are some of the only areas of cooperation between the two countries.

The exchange of bodies was mediated by the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to Ukraine’s “I Want to Find” project.

Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed on both sides since Russia’s invasion. However, neither Kyiv or Moscow regularly publishes data on their own casualties.

Zelenskyy: Ukraine pushing back Russians

Separately on Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian army has pushed back some of the advances Russia made over the summer in eastern Ukraine, calling the operation an “important success” after months of battlefield setbacks.

In a video address, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had retaken 160 square kilometres (62 square miles) near the eastern coal-mining town of Dobropillia, where Russian troops had breached Ukraine’s defences in August.

He added that Ukrainian troops had “cleared” Russian forces from a further 170sq km (66sq miles), though the territory had not yet been formally reclaimed.

The president did not specify when the gains were made, but said Russia had “suffered thousands of losses”.

“Ukraine is quite rightly defending its positions, defending its land,” Zelenskyy said.

The Washington-based think tank, The Institute for the Study of War, has estimated that Russia took 1,910sq km (737.5sq miles) of Ukrainian territory in May, June, July and August – at a cost of 130,000 casualties, averaging 68 casualties per square kilometre.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that more than 700,000 Russian soldiers are fighting on the front line in Ukraine.