The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners
of War (KShPPV) reported the
return.
Among those repatriated, 320 were soldiers who died in the
Donetsk direction, 89 were from the Bakhmut direction, and 154 bodies came from
morgues in Russia.
According to the Coordination Headquarters, the return was
made possible through the cooperation between the KShPPV, the SBU Joint Center,
the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ukraine’s Ombudsman Office, the Secretariat
for Missing Persons under Special Circumstances, the Ukrainian Armed Forces
(CUCVS), and other representatives of Ukraine’s Security and Defense Sector.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces will transport the repatriated
bodies to designated state institutions. Law enforcement and forensic experts
will identify the fallen soldiers.
The previous body exchange occurred on Oct. 18, when 501
fallen defenders were returned to Ukraine.
The first known body exchange since Russia’s full-scale
invasion took place in June 2022, when Ukraine and Russia conducted a “160 for
160” swap.