Ukraine has repatriated the bodies of 501 soldiers who died fighting against Russia, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of the Prisoners of War reported on Oct. 18.
The Geneva Conventions dictate that people who lost their lives during war are entitled to a dignified burial. Over 2,800 bodies and body fragments of fallen soldiers were identified by Ukraine as of early March, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said.
According to the headquarters, the bodies of the 489 soldiers were retrieved from Donetsk Oblast, seven from Luhansk Oblast, and four from Zaporizhzhia Oblast. One more body was brought back from a morgue in Russia.
“After identification, the bodies of our defenders will be handed over to their families for a dignified burial,” the headquarters wrote in a post on Telegram.
The effort to retrieve the fallen soldiers was conducted in collaboration with several government and military agencies, including the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Interior Ministry, the State Emergency Service, and the Armed Forces.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in late February that about 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed during the full-scale invasion.
Martin Fornusek
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