Official announcements from Ukrainian or Russian governments or international mediators

Ukraine Recovers 501 Fallen Soldiers in Largest Repatriation Since 2022; 95 POWs Exchanged with Russia

Oct 18, 2024, 07:14 PM

Ukraine has retrieved the bodies of 501 of its fallen soldiers from Russia in what appears to be the largest repatriation since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, according to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. The exchange included 89 Russian bodies, bringing the total number of bodies exchanged to 590. Among the Ukrainian soldiers were those who died fighting in Avdiivka, Bakhmut, Mariinka, Vuhledar, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk; one body came from a morgue in Russia. The bodies will be sent to state institutions for identification before being returned to their families for burial. In a separate development, Ukraine and Russia conducted their 58th prisoner exchange, with each side returning 95 prisoners of war. The exchange was mediated by the United Arab Emirates. Among the released Ukrainian soldiers are defenders of Mariupol and the Azovstal steel plant, as well as soldiers from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson regions. Notably, 28 of the returning Ukrainians had been illegally sentenced by Russian courts to long terms, including 20 to life imprisonment. Many of them had been held captive since the onset of the full-scale war and are suffering from injuries. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed gratitude for the return of the soldiers, stating, "Every rescue brings us closer to freedom for all."