Russia hands over 1,200 war dead bodies to Ukraine

MOSCOW/KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine has received the bodies of another 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war with Russia, as part of agreements to exchange both prisoners of war and the dead, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday.

In several exchanges so far this month, Ukraine has repatriated more than 4,800 bodies, Ukrainian officials said. This marks one of the largest returns of war dead since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russian state news agencies TASS and RIA both reported the handover, saying Moscow had not received a single Russian corpse in return.

"As part of the agreements in Istanbul, the repatriation of the bodies of the deceased continues. Today, the Russian side handed over another 1,200 bodies to Ukraine," said Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov.

"Ahead is an important and responsible stage of identification. This is a complex and delicate work that will give each family the opportunity to receive answers," said Umerov, who headed the Ukrainian delegation at talks in Istanbul.

It is the fourth in a series of handovers of soldiers' remains to take place in the past week, in accordance with an agreement reached between Russia and Ukraine at talks in Istanbul earlier this month.

Kyiv and Moscow agreed to each hand over as many as 6,000 bodies and to exchange sick and heavily wounded prisoners of war and those aged under 25.

Russia has so far reported only receiving a total of 27 Russian servicemen in return.

Ukraine and Russia have conducted three exchanges of POWs so far, but have not disclosed exact numbers.

(Writing by Felix Light and Olena Harmash,Editing by Andrew Osborn and Sophie Walker)