Ukraine says it received 1,000 bodies of ‘fallen servicemen’ from Russia

Ukraine received 1,000 bodies of what Russia says are fallen Ukrainian servicemen, Kyiv’s prisoner-of-war coordination centre said on Thursday (November 20, 2025).

“Investigators from law enforcement bodies, together with expert agencies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, will soon conduct all necessary examinations and identify the repatriated bodies,” the centre’s post said on the Telegram messaging app.

Kyiv and Moscow have conducted swaps of thousands of fallen bodies during the war, which began with Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Ukraine has previously accused Russia of returning bodies in a disorderly way, and of sometimes sending the bodies of Russian soldiers. Moscow has denied this.