The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said the remains arrived on 13 August, and that investigators will now work to establish the identities.

Ukraine recovered the 261 bodies as part of repatriation measures carried out with Russia, the Coordination Headquarters reported. Russia claims the dead are Ukrainian servicemen, but law enforcement investigators and forensic experts will conduct the identification before any confirmation.

The return of the dead remains one of the few channels that still functions between Kyiv and Moscow during Russia's war against Ukraine. Each handover lets families of the missing bury their relatives, and it again relied on the International Committee of the Red Cross, which helped coordinate the exchange.

Ukraine's Interior Ministry, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Armed Forces, the Office of the Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, the State Emergency Service, and the Secretariat of the Commissioner for Missing Persons under Special Circumstances all took part, the Coordination Headquarters said. Units of the Armed Forces transported the remains and passed them to police and to medical examiners under the Health Ministry for identification.

Previous exchanges

The handover is the latest in a long series of transfers Russia has carried out during its war against Ukraine, and in each case it has claimed the dead were Ukrainian servicemen or citizens, an account Ukrainian forensic experts verify independently. The exchanges have followed the Istanbul agreements that Kyiv and Moscow reached on 2 June 2025. Over the course of that June, Russia returned 6,057 bodies, and on 17 July 2025 it handed over another 1,000. Further transfers of 1,000 followed on 19 August, 18 September, 23 October, and 20 November 2025, before Russia returned 1,003 bodies on 19 December. The exchanges continued into 2026 with 1,000 bodies on 26 February and another 1,000 on 9 April, after which the totals fell to 522 on 18 June and 501 on 16 July, ahead of the 261 returned on 13 August.

Taken together, the transfers have returned thousands of the dead since mid 2025, which makes the repatriation of remains one of the most consistent forms of contact that still survives between Kyiv and Moscow.

The man who gave thousands of Ukrainian families a chance to bury their closest people has been killed while doing that work. Oleksii Yukov, head of the "Platsdarm" search unit, has died, his wife Yevheniia Kaluhina announced on Facebook.

Yukov's work gave families the one thing that lets grief begin: a body and a name. For nearly 25 years, he searched for the remains of the fallen, recovering them from where the state could not reach so that the dead could be identified and returned to their relatives, ending the agony of families whose loved ones were listed as missing.

Yukov received a fatal wound during the exhumation of bodies on the line of contact, according to soldier Serhii Hnezdilov.

He worked where the state could not reach

Yukov's team operated where it was extremely dangerous or where state services could not go. The recovery missions often took place just a few kilometers from the front line, under the threat of repeat shelling or drone attacks, in the conditions in which he was killed.

His "Platsdarm" unit began by excavating the battlefields of the First and Second World Wars, and from 2014 searched for and evacuated those killed in Russia's war against Ukraine. The number of soldiers given a proper burial through his team's efforts runs into the thousands.

Here is what Yukov wrote in his last post.

"As a searcher, I see war in all its manifestations... Here, human life is worth nothing. Here, everything is unlike in the movies. Between two worlds, we gather bodies and souls to bring them back from the war. And those who have touched war remain with it and in it, because it no longer lets anyone go," he said.

What his name meant

Those who knew him spoke of what his work meant.

"A great loss for me personally and for my circle. For most of his life, he returned names to the dead. He lived in Sloviansk," Hnezdilov wrote, calling Yukov's name synonymous with Ukrainian Donbas and respect for every fallen person he returned to their family.

The head of the Sviatohirsk city military administration, Volodymyr Rybalkin, wrote that Yukov was "forever in the ranks."

"Friend, you are incredible. What you did, few people can do," Rybalkin said.

Yukov lived in Sloviansk in Donbas, where he spent his life honoring, and died on the front line, recovering the dead one last time.

Ukraine has returned the remains of three Russians who were handed over to Kyiv as part of an exchange of fallen soldiers' bodies, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko told Interfax Ukraine on June 23.

Ukraine has said the practice of passing off the bodies of  Russian soldiers as Ukrainian is part of an attempt to obscure the scale of its military losses from the Russian public, and at least 20 such incidents have been recorded during recent repatriations conducted under the Istanbul agreements.

Russia did not comment on the discovery made by the Ukrainian side, while Klymenko said during a press conference on June 23 that it could be done to "sow chaos" during the identification of the soldiers' bodies.

Personal badges, chevrons, documents, military uniforms elements, and footwear typical of the Russian Armed Forces were found during the bodies examination transferred by Russia to Ukraine, Ukraine's Interior Ministry said.

According to Klymenko, the bodies were transferred to Russia after confirmation that they belong to Russians. The other 17 bodies have not yet been handed over to Moscow, as examinations continues.

"We are waiting for the DNA of relatives. Therefore, we want the relatives (of Russians) to submit their DNA so that we can confirm," Klymenko told Interfax Ukraine. "I gave an order to prohibit the release of these bodies to the Russians until there is a 100% confirmation."

The Interior Ministry's experts conduct up to 10,000 examinations per month to identify individuals, and one fragment of remains can be examined up to five times, Klymenko said.

"The bodies of our heroes come back extremely mutilated. There are objective reasons for this, such as an ongoing war and widespread use of weapons. At the same time, we have recorded cases when the remains of one person were returned during different stages of repatriation, which complicates our work," Klymenko said.

The June 2 negotiations in Istanbul resulted in the most expansive prisoner and body exchange agreement of the full-scale war, although no ceasefire was reached.

Ukraine received a total of 6,057 bodies of its fallen soldiers as part of the phased exchange. Russia, according to Kremlin aide and negotiator Vladimir Medinsky, took back 78.

Explaining the difference between the two numbers, President Volodymyr Zelensky on June 20 said that the bodies of the vast majority of Russian soldiers currently killed on the battlefield remain in Russian hands.

"They were advancing, and their dead remained in the territory where they were," he said.

Russia accused Kyiv on June 7 of rejecting a proposed body return, publishing footage allegedly showing Ukrainian corpses stored in refrigeration units. Ukraine dismissed the claims, saying the footage was filmed on Russian territory, not at a designated handover site.

Kyiv has consistently called for an "all-for-all" exchange of prisoners of war, but Moscow has so far refused to agree to a comprehensive swap.

‘Unwanted by their homeland’ — Ukraine confirms Russia returned bodies of its soldiers disguised as Ukrainian

“This is yet another proof of how Russia treats its people with contempt,” Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy

Russia is using the return of war dead as a tool for manipulation to obscure the scale of its military losses from the public, President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a briefing on June 20 attended by the Kyiv Independent.

According to Zelensky, Ukrainian authorities have confirmed that at least 20 of the bodies Russia returned as Ukrainian were actually Russian soldiers.

"Sometimes these bodies even have Russian passports," Zelensky said. He also cited the case of a deceased Israeli citizen fighting on Russia's side, whom Moscow had passed off as a Ukrainian soldier.

"Putin is afraid to admit how many people have died. Because if the moment comes when he needs to mobilize, his society will be afraid," he said.

Zelensky's remarks follow the June 2 prisoner and body exchange agreement in Istanbul, the most extensive of the full-scale war. Under that deal, Ukraine recovered 6,057 bodies of its fallen soldiers. Russia, according to Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, took back only 78.

Explaining the difference between the two numbers, Zelensky said that the bodies of the vast majority of Russian soldiers currently killed on the battlefield remain in Russian hands.

"They were advancing, and their dead remained in the territory where they were," he said.

According to the president, exchanges of bodies and even severely wounded soldiers have taken place on the battlefield, but such exchanges are typically not publicized.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko earlier confirmed a case in which the remains of Alexander Viktorovich Bugaev, a Russian soldier from the 39th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade, were returned to Ukraine disguised as a Ukrainian casualty.

"This shows how little human life means to Russia. Or maybe it's just a way to avoid paying compensation to the families. But they will have to pay anyway: we are returning these bodies," Klymenko said on June 19.

Ukraine's General Staff said on June 21 that Russian forces have sustained over 1,010,000 casualties — killed and wounded — since launching the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Independent Russian outlet Mediazona, along with the BBC Russian Service, has verified the identities of 111,387 Russian soldiers killed, emphasizing that the actual number is likely much higher.

Russia has continued to deny the scale of its losses, often inflating Ukrainian casualties and spreading false narratives. Zelensky warned that this is part of a broader propaganda effort to "break the reality in which we live," in which Russian forces are suffering far greater losses.

The June 2 negotiations in Istanbul led to the most extensive prisoner and body exchange agreement of the full-scale war, although no ceasefire was achieved.

On June 7, Russia accused Kyiv of rejecting a proposed body return, releasing footage that allegedly showed Ukrainian corpses stored in refrigeration units. Ukraine dismissed these claims, saying that the footage was shot on Russian territory, not at a designated handover site.

Kyiv has consistently called for an "all-for-all" exchange of prisoners of war, but Moscow has so far refused to agree to a comprehensive swap.

‘All of Ukraine is ours’ — Putin on Russia’s territorial ambitions in Ukraine

Editor’s Note: This story was updated with comments from Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. Russian President Vladimir Putin said “all of Ukraine” belonged to Russia in a speech on June 20 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, amid increasingly aggressive official statements about Moscow’s final territorial ambitions in Ukraine. Putin’s

The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Hodunova

Russia handed over some bodies of its own soldiers to Ukraine under the guise of Ukrainian casualties during a recent exchange of the deceased, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko announced on June 19.

"Yes, we have facts. We have established the names of these soldiers and officers who are unwanted by their homeland," Klymenko wrote on Telegram.

The discovery was made after the handover of remains under an agreement reached during the June 2 talks in Istanbul. In total, Ukraine received 6,057 bodies of its fallen soldiers as part of the phased exchange. Russia, according to Kremlin aide and negotiator Vladimir Medinsky, took back 78.

One of the bodies returned to Ukraine, labeled No. 192/25, was dressed in a Russian military uniform and carried a Russian passport issued to Alexander Viktorovich Bugaev, born in 1974.

Alongside the passport, officials found a military ID indicating Bugaev had served in the 1st Battalion of the 39th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade.

According to Klymenko, Bugaev went missing during heavy fighting near Novomykhailivka in Donetsk Oblast in March 2025. His family had been searching for him for months. Klymenko said Russia had located Bugaev's body but chose to "dump" it among the Ukrainian dead.

"This is yet another proof of how Russia treats its people with contempt, throwing their bodies onto the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers," Klymenko said.

"This shows how little human life means to Russia. Or maybe it's just a way to avoid paying compensation to the families. But they will have to pay anyway: we are returning these bodies."

The official has not mentioned the total number of Russian soldiers' bodies given to Ukraine.

The June 2 negotiations in Istanbul resulted in the most expansive prisoner and body exchange agreement of the full-scale war, although no ceasefire was reached.

Russia accused Kyiv on June 7 of rejecting a proposed body return, publishing footage allegedly showing Ukrainian corpses stored in refrigeration units. Ukraine dismissed the claims, saying the footage was filmed on Russian territory, not at a designated handover site.

Kyiv has consistently called for an "all-for-all" exchange of prisoners of war, but Moscow has so far refused to agree to a comprehensive swap.

There’s loads of video of Israeli air defenses, and none of Ukraine’s — this is why

As Israel and Iran continue to trade salvos, dramatic footage of air defenses battling ballistic missiles have flooded the internet. Several prominent online commentators have compared the videos coming out of Israel with those from Ukraine, questioning why Russian attacks like those on Kyiv are portrayed in relatively sparse detail,

The Kyiv IndependentYuliia Taradiuk

Russia has handed Kyiv the bodies of its own soldiers mixed in with those of Ukrainian soldiers during recent repatriation of the fallen, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on June 16.

Klymenko's statement follows the completion of an exchange between Ukraine and Russia of the remains of soldiers killed in action earlier the same day, under agreements reached during recent peace talks in Istanbul.

Kyiv returned a total of 6,057 bodies. Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin and member of the Russian delegation at the Istanbul talks, claimed that Russia received the bodies of 78 deceased servicemen.

According to Klymenko, the identification process has been significantly complicated by the condition in which Russia returned the bodies.

"Parts of the bodies (of fallen soldiers) are in different bags. There are cases when the remains of one person are returned even during different stages of repatriation," the minister said.

Klymenko said that Russia may have included the bodies of its own soldiers in the transfer to Ukraine either on purpose or by accident.

"This could have been done by the Russians on purpose to increase the number of bodies transferred and to load our (forensic) experts with work, adding to all this cynical information pressure. Or it could be their usual negligent attitude toward their own people. In any case, we also identify these bodies," Klymenko said.

The June 2 negotiations in Istanbul resulted in the most expansive prisoner and body exchange agreement of the full-scale war, although no ceasefire was reached.

The deal followed the largest-ever POW swap in late May, when 1,000 prisoners were exchanged on each side. Additional exchanges last week included severely wounded and sick soldiers.

Russia accused Ukraine on June 7 of rejecting a proposed body return, publishing footage allegedly showing Ukrainian corpses stored in refrigeration units. Kyiv dismissed the claims, saying the footage was filmed inside Russia and not at a designated exchange location.

Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service reported on June 16 that Russia is preparing to escalate a disinformation campaign related to ongoing POW exchanges next week, aiming to provoke public outrage in Ukrainian society.

From buffer zone to new front: Russia pushes deeper into Sumy Oblast

In March 2025, as Ukrainian forces made their final retreat from Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, new grey spots began to appear on open-source maps on the other side of the state border, in Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast. For the first time since 2022, when Moscow’s forces retreated

The Kyiv IndependentFrancis Farrell

Ukraine recovered another 1,200 bodies following the latest round of repatriation efforts, following agreements with Russia in Istanbul, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said on June 15.

The last repatriation took place on June 14 when the bodies of 1,200 fallen Ukrainians were given back. Before that, 2,412 bodies were returned on June 13 and June 11 respectively, following the talks in Istanbul on June 2.

Law enforcement investigations and institutions from Ukraine’s Interior Ministry will examine and identify the bodies in the near future, the coordination headquarters said. The bodies reportedly include military personnel.

The repatriation operation was coordinated by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War alongside the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Ombudsman’s Office, the Armed Forces, the Interior Ministry, and other government and defense bodies. The International Committee of the Red Cross also provided assistance during the process.

While the Istanbul talks failed to foster a ceasefire, both sides agreed to new POW exchanges. Ukraine has long pushed for an "all-for-all"prisoner exchange to bring home all Ukrainian captives, but Moscow has resisted such a comprehensive deal.

After the talks, Russia said it would transfer 6,000 bodies to Ukraine, including soldiers and officers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine would need to check the bodies that Russia is willing to return, as only 15% of the 6,000 have been identified.

"We had instances when they returned bodies that later were identified as their own," Zelensky said on June 2.

Russia transfers 50 Ukrainian children to so-called ‘rehab camp’ in Kalmykia, Kyiv says

Russia has transferred 50 children from the occupied Antratsyt district of Luhansk Oblast to a so-called rehabilitation camp in Kalmykia, Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation reported on June 14.

The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova