© Tim Evans/Reuters
Ukraine has received the bodies of 252 people killed in the war, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported on 17 September.
The return of the dead remains one of the few channels that still functions between Kyiv and Moscow during Russia’s war against Ukraine. Each handover allows families of missing Ukrainians to identify and bury their relatives.
According to the Russian side, the bodies belong to Ukrainian citizens, including military personnel. Ukrainian authorities will now carry out forensic examinations and identification procedures to establish the identities of those returned, the Coordination Headquarters said.
The repatriation was carried out through joint work by Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the Security Service of Ukraine’s Joint Center, the Armed Forces, Interior Ministry, Ombudsman’s Office, Missing Persons Commissioner’s Secretariat, State Emergency Service, and other security and defense structures.
The International Committee of the Red Cross assisted with the repatriation.
Ukrainian military personnel are transporting the bodies to designated state facilities, where law enforcement and forensic experts will conduct the necessary examinations and identification.
The latest repatriation follows the return of 261 bodies to Ukraine on 13 August.
The return of fallen Ukrainian soldiers has accelerated since peace talks resumed in early 2025 and has become a recurring process, making repatriation operations one of the few areas of continued humanitarian cooperation between Ukraine and Russia amid the war.
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