Latest news with #ShamsailSaraliev
Russia Today
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Russia hands over another 1,200 bodies of soldiers to Ukraine
Russia has handed over to Kiev the remains of 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers, both sides confirmed on Friday. The transfer was first announced in Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. The organization said the bodies will now be subjected to examination to confirm the identities of the deceased. Russian MP Shamsail Saraliev, a member of the parliamentary coordination group on the Ukraine military operation, confirmed the transfer to local media. Footage from the scene taken at an undisclosed location shows the latest batch of bodies being delivered to Ukraine by a train carrying refrigerated freight containers placed on flatbed carriages. The bodies were subsequently loaded into a Ukrainian freight train. According to Russian media reports, Moscow did not receive any bodies of fallen soldiers from the Ukrainian side this time. This comes after another exchange of slain soldiers carried out on Wednesday. The Russian side returned the remains of 1,212 Ukrainian servicemen, receiving 27 bodies in return, according to Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who serves as Moscow's chief negotiator in talks with Kiev. Moscow decided to return more than 6,000 slain Ukrainian soldiers during negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul earlier this month. The transfer has been marred by repeated delays, with Moscow accusing Kiev of deliberately delaying acceptance of the bodies. According to Medinsky, the first batch of remains was swiftly delivered to the designated exchange areas, but Ukrainian representatives were nowhere to be found. It turned out that Ukraine had rescheduled the meeting without giving notice. Apart from exchanging slain soldiers, Moscow and Kiev have also agreed to conduct several POW swaps, primarily focusing on seriously wounded or ill captives, as well as those under 25. Over the past week, the two sides held three prisoner exchanges but did not disclose the exact numbers of soldiers involved. According to Medinsky, each side is expected to return some 1,200 soldiers during the ongoing swaps. The Russian Defense Ministry said Kiev has been lagging behind schedule with the exchange and was unable to perform the swaps 'daily' as agreed in Istanbul. 'Unfortunately, the Ukrainian side is not ready to conduct exchanges in that swift mode,' the military said in a statement on Thursday.
Russia Today
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Moscow and Kiev exchange remains of fallen soldiers
Moscow and Kiev have exchanged the remains of fallen servicemen, Russian MP Shamsail Saraliev has told RBK media outlet. The lawmaker is a member of the parliamentary commission overseeing the country's military operation against Ukrainian forces. According to Saraliev, the Russian Defense Ministry returned 909 bodies to Ukraine and received the remains of 34 Russian soldiers in exchange. Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War confirmed the swap in a Telegram post, saying Kiev had received the bodies of 909 servicemen. It did not disclose how many of Russia's fallen soldiers were handed over. The operation involved the Ukrainian military as well as the domestic security service, the SBU, and was coordinated with the International Committee of the Red Cross, it added. Similar swaps have been carried out on a monthly basis. In January, Russia handed 757 bodies to Ukraine in exchange for the remains of 49 troops. In February, Kiev received 757 bodies, while 45 were returned to Russia. In March, the sides exchanged the remains of 909 Ukrainian servicemen for the bodies of 43 Russians, including eight civilians who were captured during Kiev's cross-border incursion into Kursk Region and later died in captivity. Last month, Russia handed over 909 Ukrainian bodies and received the remains of 41 soldiers in return. Russian war correspondent Aleksandr Kots wrote in Telegram on Friday that during the past three exchanges, many of the Ukrainian bodies belonged to servicemen who had been killed during the incursion into Kursk Region. On April 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the full liberation of Kursk Region, saying Ukraine had suffered heavy losses. According to Moscow's estimates, Kiev's casualties during the incursion amounted to more than 76,000. The first direct talks between Moscow and Kiev in over three years concluded on Friday at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, according to media reports. The negotiations focused on a possible ceasefire and prisoner exchange, according to Ukrainian delegation head Rustem Umerov, who said the sides had agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners each. Russia's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky confirmed an exchange is being prepared.
