Russia and Ukraine have again in their ongoing war Bodies of soldiers exchanged. Kiev received 121 bodies, the Ukrainian coordination staff for prisoner of war issues announced on Telegram on Friday. The soldiers were killed in fighting in the Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions. The International Committee of the Red Cross, among others, mediated the return.
The Russian side received 29 casualties, as MP Shamsail Saraliyev announced in Moscow.
Heavy Ukrainian losses
Ukraine has been resisting the Russian invasion for more than two years. Although casualty figures on both sides are kept secret, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke in February of 31,000 of his own soldiers killed. However, Western estimates put Ukrainian losses much higher. Experts say the number of deaths on both sides is more than twice as high.
The warring parties had repeatedly exchanged prisoners in the past. These negotiations over the exchange of dead and prisoners are among the last remaining contacts between the warring neighbors. The last time casualties were exchanged was on March 15th, with Ukraine receiving 100 bodies and Russia receiving 69 soldiers killed.