According to Russian State Duma deputy Shamsail Saraliev, Russia transferred the remains of 522 fallen soldiers to Ukraine and received 33 bodies in return.

Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War later confirmed the repatriation.

“As a result of the repatriation measures, the bodies of 522 deceased individuals were returned to Ukraine. According to the Russian side, the bodies belong to citizens of Ukraine, specifically military personnel,” the Coordination Headquarters reported on Thursday.

Ukrainian authorities said forensic examinations and identification procedures would now be conducted to establish the identities of the returned soldiers.

The exchange was facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

It was the latest in a series of regular body repatriations between the two sides. The previous exchange took place on May 16, when Russia transferred 528 bodies to Ukraine and received 41 in return.

Such exchanges have been conducted regularly since June 2024 following agreements reached during negotiations in Istanbul. According to available figures, Russia has returned the remains of more than 10,000 fallen soldiers to Ukraine, while Ukraine has transferred hundreds of bodies to Russia.

Body repatriations and prisoner swaps remain among the few humanitarian arrangements that Moscow and Kyiv have maintained throughout the conflict despite repeated failures to achieve broader diplomatic breakthroughs.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine officially publishes comprehensive casualty figures. However, independent researchers have identified the names of more than 220,000 Russian soldiers believed to have been killed in the war.

The full-scale war began in February 2022, when Russian forces launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has said the operation was aimed at protecting Russian-speaking populations in eastern Ukraine, while Kyiv and its allies

By Vusala Abbasova, juornalist of CNews