Russia and Ukraine exchanged bodies of dead soldiers

Russia has returned 23 bodies of dead soldiers, State Duma deputy Shamsail Saraliev, who is a representative of the parliamentary coordination group on military operations, told RBC.

“23 bodies were taken,” he said.

Kyiv received 99 bodies of dead servicemen, he also confirmed.

The Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War previously reported the return of the bodies of the dead to Kyiv. Most of them, 77 people, died in battles in the Donetsk direction, 20 in the Zaporozhye direction and two in the Kharkov direction.

The previous exchange took place two weeks ago, on March 29. Moscow returned 29 bodies, Kyiv - 121. As the Ukrainian headquarters clarified, of the dead returned then, the majority fought in the Donetsk direction.

The exchange of bodies of the dead takes place on the Russian-Ukrainian border in the Sumy region; the Ukrainian delegation usually enters Russian territory, The Telegraph previously wrote. “We are going to their territory because we don’t want Russian equipment on our territory. Of course, this is a risk, but it is less than if they arrived,” explained Ukrainian military intelligence officer Vitaly Matvienko.

Representatives of the Red Cross are present at the meetings.