JAKARTA - Ukraine brought home 1,212 bodies of its soldiers who died on the battlefield, while Russia declared its readiness to comply with the Istanbul Agreement which agreed on more exchanges of prisoners of war and repatriation of the bodies of soldiers.
Ukrainian authorities in charge of the exchange of prisoners of war said on Wednesday Ukraine had brought home the bodies of 1,212 soldiers killed on the battlefield with Russia.
"As a result of the repatriation activity, the bodies of 1,212 fallen defenders have been returned to Ukraine," the coordination committee for the exchange of Kyiv prisoners on the Telegram messaging application said.
The committee released photos from the scene showing International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) personnel at an undisclosed location, walking through several cooled trucks.
Some trucks are characterized by the symbol "On the Shield," a Ukrainian organization involved in the retrieval and evacuation of the dead soldiers.
The 1,212 bodies will now be handed over to experts from the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, law enforcement agencies, and the Ministry of Health who will try to confirm their identities as soon as possible, the prison exchange coordination agency said.
Meanwhile in Moscow, Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky said Ukraine had returned the bodies of 27 Russian soldiers.
Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange more prisoners of war and repatriate 12,000 bodies of soldiers, each side handed over 6,000 bodies, in negotiations taking place in Istanbul, Turkey on June 2.
On Sunday, Medinsky said Ukraine had postponed the taking of the first 1,212 bodies. Russian officials also said a refrigerating truck containing bodies waited for five days on the border before Ukraine received it.
The Ukrainian coordinating agency said an agreement had been reached regarding the repatriation of the bodies but the date had not yet been set, accusing Russia of unilateral action and uncoordinated.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova said Moscow was fully ready to implement Istanbul's agreement to hand over the bodies of 6,000 Ukrainian military members to Kyiv.
"Russia is fully prepared to implement the agreement reached in Istanbul and we hope Ukraine will show the same approach," he stressed, quoted by TASS.
According to Zakharova, on June 7, Russia had handed over 1,212 bodies to designated areas on the Belarus-Ukraine border.
"However, Kyiv refused to accept it, which I think surprised everyone," the diplomat said.
"This is not the first or only evidence of the non-humane nature of the Kyiv regime, but it is clearly the strongest evidence," he added.
On June 2, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia wanted to return 6,000 bodies to Ukraine, but only about 15 percent of them had been identified.
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"We experienced a time when they handed over the bodies to us and also handed over the bodies of the dead Russian soldiers," President Zelensky told a briefing.
On Monday, Russia and Ukraine exchanged dozens of prisoners of war under the age of 25, as well as prisoners who were seriously injured and sick on Tuesday.
Russia and Ukraine will exchange more prisoners of war who were seriously injured and sick on Thursday, Medinsky said.
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