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Ukraine returns bodies of 503 fallen soldiers from four combat fronts

As Ukraine works to return its fallen soldiers, mounting evidence of systematic war crimes against prisoners of war reveals a disturbing pattern of violations against international humanitarian law.

byOlena Mukhina

20/12/2024

2 minute read

Farewell to a fallen Ukrainian soldier. Credit: Kostiantyn Liberov, Vlada Liberova

Ukraine returns bodies of 503 fallen soldiers from four combat fronts

Ukraine has returned the bodies of 503 fallen defenders from Russia, according to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

The exact number of Ukrainian soldiers held by Russia remains unclear. As of January 2024, Kyiv has successfully retuned 2,681 soldiers from Russian captivity. In addition, Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets says that since 2022, Ukaine has 177 documented cases of execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Moscow forces. In 2024 alone, 109 confirmed cases of such executions have been reported, indicating a troubling increase in these crimes.

“As a result of repatriation efforts, the bodies of 503 fallen defenders have been returned to Ukrainian government-controlled territory,” the statement said.

Ukraine returned 403 fallen defenders from the Donetsk front, 12 from the Luhansk front, 57 from the Zaporizhzhia front, and 31 retrieved from morgues on Russian territory.

This operation was made possible through the coordinated efforts of the Coordination Headquarters, the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

The Coordination Headquarters has expressed gratitude to the International Committee of the Red Cross for their assistance and acknowledged the Armed Forces of Ukraine for transporting the repatriated heroes to specialized state facilities. They also helped to transfer the bodies to law enforcement representatives and forensic experts.

Efforts are underway, in collaboration with expert teams from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to promptly identify the fallen defenders.

Earlier, the Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, said that the aggressor “can never be trusted,” while paying tribute to the fallen Ukrainian defenders killed in the war with Russia since 2014.

“Putin can never be trusted,” warns Ukraine’s intelligence chief Budanov on Remembrance Day of fallen defenders

Any compromise with Russian ruler Vladimir Putin is a trap, he added.

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