Moscow on Thursday handed over the bodies of 1,000 soldiers to Ukraine, a source in the Russian negotiating delegation told reporters, while Kyiv returned the bodies of 41 dead Russian soldiers.
Russia's state-owned video news agency Ruptly posted footage of a man in a white uniform and blue gloves lifting a white body bag from the back of a truck and carrying it to a second vehicle.
The video also shows observers with a Red Cross sign on their uniforms.
The Ukrainian Headquarters for the Coordination of Prisoners of War confirmed on social media, the bodies of "1,000 dead people have been returned to Ukraine."
"According to the Russian side, the bodies returned belong to members of the Ukrainian military," he said, launching Al Arabiya from AFP (9/4).
It is known that the two sides routinely exchange the bodies of soldiers killed in battle, one of the few areas of cooperation during the four-year war launched by Russia's full-scale offensive that has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
Kyiv in the past accused Moscow of handing over the bodies of Russian soldiers who died among the bodies claimed to be Ukrainian soldiers.
"After the body is identified, the body will be handed over to their families for a decent burial," said the Coordination Center.
Last month, the Red Cross said it was facilitating the exchange of about 1,000 bodies each month and that while "thousands" of other bodies were still unidentified.
Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine triggered the bloodiest war in Europe since World War II, forcing millions to flee and killing civilians on both sides.
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