Ukraine retrieves bodies of 909 fallen soldiers
Ukraine has repatriated the bodies of 909 soldiers who died fighting against Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of the Prisoners of War reported on March 28.
These were soldiers who fought in the Kurakhove, Pokrovsk, Bakhmut, Vuhledar, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia directions. Some bodies were returned from Russian Federation morgues.
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, the Armed Forces, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Office for Missing Persons in Special Circumstances.
The headquarters also thanked the International Committee of the Red Cross for their assistance.
The Geneva Conventions dictate that people who lose their lives during war are entitled to a dignified burial.
Over 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed on the battlefield since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with NBC published on Feb. 16, 2025.
Nearly 380,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been injured since the start of the all-out war, Zelensky told NBC. "Ten of thousands" of Ukrainian troops were missing in action or being held in Russian captivity, according to the president.
As of March 28, Russia has lost 910,750 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported.
Natalia Yermak
