Ukraine repatriates more bodies of fallen soldiers in line with an agreement with Russia

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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine has repatriated more bodies of fallen soldiers in line with an agreement reached during peace talks in Istanbul between Russian and Ukrainian delegations, Ukrainian officials said Friday.

Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement that Russia returned 1,200 bodies, and “according to the Russian side, the bodies belong to Ukrainian citizens, in particular military personnel.”

The repatriation of the bodies was carried out with the help of Ukraine's Armed Forces, the country's Security Service, the Interior Ministry and other government agencies. Forensic experts will now work to identify the remains, the statement said.

The repatriation of the bodies marks one of the largest returns of remains since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago. Earlier this week, Russia returned 1,212 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers and received 27 bodies of its own killed troops.

The agreement to exchange prisoners of war and the bodies of fallen soldiers was the only tangible outcome of the talks in Istanbul that took place June 2.

Russia and Ukraine conducted a POW swap on Thursday that included severely wounded and gravely ill captives, although the sides did not report the numbers.

In addition to agreeing to exchange POWs and bodies of fallen soldiers, the two sides traded memorandums at the talks that set out conditions for a ceasefire. However, the inclusion of clauses that both sides see as nonstarters make any quick deal unlikely.

Despite discussions of a potential truce in the war, Moscow’s forces in recent days have launched waves of drones and missiles at Ukraine, with a record bombardment of almost 500 drones on Monday and a wave of 315 drones and seven missiles overnight on Tuesday.

Ukraine's air force said Friday that Russia fired 55 Shahed and decoy drones and four ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight. The air force said air defenses neutralized 43 drones. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the attack.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday that its air defenses downed 125 Ukrainian drones over several Russian regions and the annexed Crimea late Thursday and early Friday.