Russia gave Ukraine the bodies of 1,000 soldiers on Thursday as part of an agreement reached at peace talks last month, officials said.
Two rounds of negotiations in Istanbul between Moscow and Kyiv have failed to result in any progress towards a ceasefire, instead yielding large-scale prisoner exchanges and deals to return the bodies of killed soldiers.
“The bodies of 1,000 deceased persons have been returned to Ukraine,” said a statement from Ukraine’s government body coordinating the treatment of prisoners of war.
It said Russia had claimed they were Ukrainian citizens, including soldiers, though Kyiv has previously accused Russia of handing over the bodies of killed Russian soldiers disguised as Ukrainians in repatriation deals.