INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russia returned the bodies of 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed in combat and received the remains of 19 Russian soldiers under a deal reached
statement.Photos and videosshared by Russian state news agencies showed teams of people in white hazmat suits transferring body bags between
refrigerated semi-trailers.An anonymous sourcetold the state-run news agency RIA Novosti that Russia planned to return the bodies of 2,000
more Ukrainian soldiers in the near future.The repatriation of fallen soldiers and the exchange of prisoners of war has been one of the few
areas of cooperation between the warring sides since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.Moscow and Kyiv agreed last month during talks
in Istanbul to exchange the bodies of 6,000 soldiers each
The sides also agreed to a large-scale prisoner swap but failed to reach a ceasefire deal.Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed on
both sides since the war began, according to independent monitors and Western intelligence
Neither country publishes regular or independently verifiable casualty figures.
