Overview

• Ukraine’s Coordinating Headquarters confirmed the handover and said law enforcement investigators and Interior Ministry forensic experts will identify the remains.
• The operation involved multiple Ukrainian agencies with support from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
• Russian lawmaker Shamsail Saraliyev said Russia received 24 Russian bodies in the exchange, a figure not independently confirmed by Kyiv.
• Ukrainian officials have alleged that Russia has at times attempted to pass off Russian casualties as Ukrainians, complicating verification efforts.
• The exchanges follow arrangements shaped at talks in Istanbul, where earlier phases saw large returns, including a June transfer that Kyiv said brought back 6,057 Ukrainian bodies as Russia retrieved far fewer per a Kremlin aide.