Bodies of 1,000 victims returned to Ukraine – Coordination HQ

The bodies of 1,000 deceased, according to preliminary data, servicemen have returned to Ukraine as part of repatriation measures, the Telegram channel of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (HQ) reported on Thursday.

"As a result of the repatriation measures, the bodies of 1,000 deceased have been returned to Ukraine. According to the Russian side, the bodies belong to citizens of Ukraine, in particular servicemen... Law enforcement investigators, together with expert institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, will conduct all necessary examinations and identify the repatriated bodies," the message says.

HQ expressed gratitude for the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in transporting the repatriates to state specialized institutions and organizing the transfer of the deceased.

"The bodies were returned as a result of the joint work of the employees of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the Joint Center under the Security Service of Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the Office of the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights, the Secretariat of the Commissioner for Persons Missing in Special Circumstances, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, and other structures of the Security and Defense Sector of Ukraine," HQ said.