1000 for 35: first prisoner-of-war body exchange in the fifth year of the Russia-Ukraine war

The head of the Russian delegation to negotiations with Ukraine, Vladimir Medinsky, announced on Thursday the transfer to Kyiv of the bodies of 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers in exchange for 35 Russian military corpses.

This marks the first exchange of its kind since the war began on February 24, 2022, as the conflict enters its fifth year, under U.S.-mediated talks aimed at halting the fighting.

Earlier in February, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that Moscow had delivered over 12,000 Ukrainian soldiers’ remains to Ukraine since June 2025, while receiving in return the bodies of more than 200 Russian soldiers as part of the exchange and repatriation of deceased combatants’ remains.

The ministry emphasized that the exchange operation is purely humanitarian and conducted according to mechanisms agreed upon by both sides, despite ongoing military operations and political tensions.

The return of the remains is viewed as an essential step to allow families to bury their relatives according to tradition, with repeated Russian assurances of adherence to the humanitarian aspects of international law, despite the complexity of the ongoing military and political situation.