Ukrainian officials in hazmat suits receive the remains of fallen Ukrainian soldiers at an undisclosed location, Ukraine, 13 June 2025. Photo: Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War

Russia handed over the bodies of a further 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers killed in action on Sunday, according to Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

Investigators, along with experts from the Interior Ministry, are expected to begin the process of identifying the remains in the coming days. This is the latest repatriation following three earlier transfers on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. In total, Russia has now handed over the bodies of over 4,000 fallen Ukrainian servicemen.

According to Russia’s state news agency TASS, Ukraine has yet to transfer the remains of an equivalent number of Russian servicemen, with pro-Kremlin sources reporting that only 27 sets of Russian remains had been repatriated so far.

Ukrainian officials have yet to confirm whether or not further transfers of human remains to Russia are planned under the terms of a bilateral agreement reached in Istanbul on 2 June. As well as a 6,000-for-6,000 exchange covering both the remains of the dead and a large-scale swap of seriously wounded and underage prisoners of war.

In comments to reporters on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged the complexity of the process and said that the two sides would revisit the issue once the current phase of repatriations was completed. “We expect this stage to conclude on 20 or 21 [of June],” he said, adding that “So far, there is nothing more to say.”