Russia returns bodies of 563 Ukrainian soldiers

• Published On: 08 November 2024 at 16:54

Ukraine announced on Friday that it had received the bodies of 563 soldiers from Russian authorities, the majority of whom had died in combat in eastern Donetsk region.

Since Russia's invasion in 2022, the exchange of prisoners and the bodies of killed military personnel has been one of the few areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv.

"The bodies of 563 fallen Ukrainian defenders were returned to Ukraine," the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War announced on social media.

The announcement marks one of the largest repatriations of killed Ukrainian servicemen since the beginning of the war.


According to the statement, 320 of the remains were returned from the Donetsk region, while 89 soldiers were killed near Bakhmut, a town captured by Russia in May of last year after a costly battle.

Another 154 bodies were returned from mortuaries in Russia, according to the statement.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine have publicly disclosed the number of military personnel killed in the conflict.