Russia has returned the bodies of 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers to Kyiv, marking one of the largest repatriations of remains since the war began more than three years ago.
The return on Friday was made following an agreement reached during peace talks in Istanbul last month.
However, Moscow has claimed this latest exchange was one-sided, claiming that Ukraine has failed to return the bodies of its fallen soldiers.
“Today, Russia handed over 1,200 bodies of deceased soldiers of the Ukrainian armed forces to Ukraine. Not a single one was handed over to us,” an unnamed source told Russia’s state-run TASS news agency.
Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky also claimed that Ukraine suddenly postponed the handover of remains and prisoner exchanges on June 7, without offering a public explanation.
Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement on Friday that forensic experts will now work to identify the remains they received, adding that the bodies were believed to be those of Ukrainian military personnel.
Earlier this week, Russia returned another 1,212 bodies and received just 27 bodies of its own troops in return.
Despite tensions, both sides have agreed in principle to exchange up to 6,000 bodies and prioritise the release of sick and severely wounded prisoners of war, as well as those under the age of 25.
EU protection for Ukrainian refugees
Meanwhile, as the war continues between Russia and Ukraine, the European Union has extended its temporary protection scheme for Ukrainian refugees by another year, allowing them to remain in the bloc until March 2027.
The EU’s move, announced on Friday, comes amid ongoing air raids and strikes across Ukraine, which have displaced millions since the start of Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
More than 4.3 million Ukrainians are currently registered under the scheme, with Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic hosting the largest refugee populations.
“While Russia continues to terrorise Ukrainian civilians with indiscriminate air strikes, the EU continues to show its solidarity,” said Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland’s interior minister.
“We will continue to offer protection for millions of Ukrainian refugees for another year.”
Fighting continues
Heavy fighting continued across the front line on Friday, with new casualties reported in both Ukraine and Russia.
In Russia’s Belgorod region, a two-year-old boy was killed and two adults, including his grandmother, were wounded in what officials said was a Ukrainian drone strike overnight, according to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed it had intercepted 260 Ukrainian drones over the past 24 hours, while over the past week, Moscow says its air defences downed a Neptune long-range missile, 18 JDAM guided bombs, nine US-made HIMARS rockets, and 1,582 fixed-wing drones from Ukraine.
In Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian Governor Ivan Fedorov reported one person killed and three injured in Russian shelling, while in Donetsk, Ukrainian Governor Vadym Filashkin said two civilians were killed and five injured across the region.
It comes after the Ukrainian military said it had struck the Rezonit electronics factory near Moscow, triggering explosions. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine later reported 113 Russian assaults across key fronts, including in Lyman, Pokrovsk, Novopavlivka and Kurakhove.
