1,245 bodies returned from Russia, says Kyiv
KYIV: Russia has returned 1,245 bodies to Ukraine, Kyiv said on Monday, the final stage of a deal to repatriate more than 6,000 dead Ukrainian soldiers agreed at peace talks this month. Russia and Ukraine reached a deal on a large-scale exchange of prisoners and bodies of killed soldiers, the only visible result from two rounds of direct talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul.
"Another 1,245 bodies returned to Ukraine — repatriation part of Istanbul agreements has been completed," the government agency coordinating the repatriation said. Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said on Facebook that Kyiv has received more than 6,000 bodies in total over the past week.
The Russian defence ministry gave a slightly different figure of 1,248 for the number of bodies returned in the final stage of the accord — three more than Kyiv said it had received. Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko on Monday accused Russia of "deliberately complicating the identification process". "Bodies are returned in an extremely mutilated state, parts of (the same) bodies are in different bags," Klymenko said on Telegram. — AFP
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