Ukraine receives 1,245 bodies of fallen soldiers and citizens, concluding Istanbul repatriation deal

Editor's note: This item has been updated to include Defense Minister Rustem Umerov's statement.

Ukraine has received the bodies of another 1,245 fallen Ukrainian soldiers and citizens under agreements reached during recent peace negotiations in Istanbul, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (POWs) announced on June 16.

The latest repatriation marks the final stage of the exchange agreement, bringing the total number of Ukrainian bodies returned under the deal to 6,057.

"Each of them undergoes identification. Because behind every one of them is a name, a life, a family waiting for answers," Defense Minister Rustem Umerov wrote on Facebook.

"We are not stopping. Ahead lies the next stage: we continue the fight to bring back our prisoners of war. We bring them back. We remember…"

The operation was coordinated by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU), the Ombudsman's Office, the military, the Interior Ministry, and other state and defense institutions, with assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin and member of the Russian delegation at the Istanbul talks, claimed that Russia received the bodies of 78 deceased servicemen.

The June 2 negotiations in Istanbul resulted in the most expansive prisoner and body exchange agreement of the full-scale war, although no ceasefire was reached.

The deal followed the largest-ever POW swap in late May, when 1,000 prisoners were exchanged on each side. Additional exchanges last week included severely wounded and sick soldiers.

Russia accused Ukraine on June 7 of rejecting a proposed body return, publishing footage allegedly showing Ukrainian corpses stored in refrigeration units. Kyiv dismissed the claims, saying the footage was filmed inside Russia and not at a designated exchange location.

Andrii Yusov, deputy head of Ukraine's POW Coordination Headquarters, told Ukrainian Pravda that Ukraine is fully abiding by the agreed terms and has made no unilateral rejections.

Kyiv has repeatedly urged Moscow to adopt an "all-for-all" prisoner exchange formula. While over 5,000 Ukrainians have been returned from Russian captivity since March 2022, Russia continues to resist a comprehensive swap.