Russia has transferred the bodies of 1,212 Ukrainian soldiers to Ukraine. The transfer was confirmed on June 11 by Shamsail Saraliev, a representative of the parliamentary coordination group on military operation issues and a State Duma deputy.

The Ukrainian headquarters for prisoners of war also acknowledged the return of the bodies. The Ukrainian side expressed gratitude to the International Committee of the Red Cross for their assistance in the transfer.

According to reports, the deceased soldiers had participated in hostilities in the Kursk, Kharkiv, Zaporozhye, and Kherson regions, as well as in the territories of the DPR and LPR. The bodies will now be handed over to representatives from Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Health for examinations and identification processes.

This transfer follows earlier reports. On June 2, Vladimir Medinsky, a Russian presidential aide, stated that Russia would unilaterally transfer 6,000 bodies of soldiers to Ukraine.

On June 8, Lieutenant General Alexander Zorin, representing the Russian negotiating group, said that 1,212 bodies of deceased Ukrainian soldiers had been brought to the exchange location in the Bryansk region. However, the exchange was postponed indefinitely due to the absence of Ukrainian representatives at the designated location.

On June 9, the first exchange of prisoners of war under the age of 25 took place, following agreements made in Istanbul.

On June 10, the Kremlin stated that the Russian Federation does not know how many bodies of Russian soldiers Ukraine can transfer as part of the exchange.