Kiev/Moscow, Oct 22. (dpa) – Russia and Ukraine have again exchanged the bodies of hundreds of soldiers, authorities said on Thursday.
The Ukrainian agency responsible for exchanges said it received 252 bodies “which, according to the Russian side, are Ukrainian military personnel.” The bodies now have to be identified. According to Moscow, Russia received 25 bodies of soldiers back.
The exchange again took place at the Novaya Guta border crossing between Belarus and Ukraine. Both sides thanked the International Committee of the Red Cross for its help with the operation. “The ratio is practically the same as in September, namely 1:10,” Vladimir Rogov, chairman of the relevant committee of Russia’s Civic Chamber, wrote on Telegram.
At that time, 252 Ukrainian soldiers’ bodies were exchanged for 23 Russian ones. The disparity is generally attributed to Russian territorial advances in recent years, with Ukrainian troops not always able to recover their dead as they retreated.
The exchange of prisoners of war as well as of fallen soldiers, is one of the few functioning lines of communication between the warring parties.
GNA