Russia And Ukraine Again Exchange Bodies Of Dead Soldiers

Illustration of the repatriation of the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers. (Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War via Twitter/@Gerashchenko_en)

JAKARTA - Russia and Ukraine have exchanged the bodies of the dead soldiers, Ukrainian officials and Russian state media said on Thursday.

Ukraine said it had received 1,000 bodies, while Russian news agency TASS quoted an anonymous source as saying Moscow had re-received 30 bodies.

"Investigators from law enforcement agencies, along with the Ministry of Home Affairs' expert body, will soon carry out all necessary investigations and identify the bodies that have been repatriated," the Ukrainian war prisoner coordination center said on Telegram.

Ukraine itself previously accused Russia of returning the bodies in an disorderly manner, and sometimes sending the bodies of the Russian soldiers. Moscow denies it.

Previously, both sides had carried out a series of exchanges of bodies, as well as exchanges of prisoners alive, during the war that began with Russia's massive invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

However, peace negotiations are still stalled, and negotiators from both sides have not seen each other in person since July 23, when they only talk for 40 minutes in Istanbul.

Meanwhile, European countries on Thursday rejected the US-backed Ukraine peace plan. The plan, according to several sources, would require Kyiv to give up more territory and partially strip weapons.

This condition has long been considered by Ukrainian allies as a form of surrender.