Kremlin Says Russia Is Ready To Hand Over Bodies Of Ukrainian Soldiers

Dmitry Peskov. (Wikimedia Commons/men's

JAKARTA - Russia is ready to start handing over the bodies of Ukrainian war victims for several days in cooled trucks containing the first bodies parked near the border, but Kyiv is still discussing details, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

The two sides agreed to repatriate the bodies of soldiers killed in the conflict during talks in Istanbul, Turkey on June 2, which also resulted in an agreement to exchange prisoners of war, a process that began on Monday.

Russia said it was ready to hand over the bodies of more than 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers and receive the bodies of the Russian soldiers that Kyiv could return.

However, Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky said on Saturday the Russian side had appeared at an exchange point agreed to carry the bodies of 1,212 Ukrainian soldiers who died, but found no one from Ukraine willing to accept them.

Ukrainian officials in charge of the exchange did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

When asked about the matter on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was still ready to return the body and was negotiating with Kyiv on the matter, but did not know exactly how many bodies of Russian soldiers were ready to be handed over to Ukraine.

"There is no final understanding yet. Contacts are being made, the numbers are being compared. Once there is a final understanding, we hope this exchange will happen," Peskov said.

"There is one undeniable fact here, namely that we have been on the border for several days with the trailer mentioned for transferring to Ukraine. This is a fact that everyone sees and knows."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of "trying to play some kind of dirty political and information game" about the exchange issue.

Meanwhile, Russian state media have broadcast images of long white-cooled trucks containing bodies sealed in individual white bags parked near the border.