Ukraine returns bodies of 563 fallen soldiers

Ukraine successfully returned the bodies of 563 fallen soldiers as a result of repatriation efforts, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported on Friday.

Specifically, the bodies of 320 soldiers who died on the Donetsk front and 89 fallen warriors from the Bakhmut front were returned. Additionally, Ukraine repatriated 154 bodies from morgues on Russian soil.

The military is transporting the repatriated bodies and remains to state institutions. Representatives of law enforcement agencies and forensic pathologists are working to identify the deceased, the Coordination Headquarters stated.

The repatriation of the fallen defenders was made possible through the cooperation of the Coordination Headquarters staff with the Joint Center of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Secretariat of the Commissioner for Missing Persons under Special Circumstances, and other representatives of the security and defense sector. The Coordination Headquarters expressed gratitude for the assistance provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

On October 18, Ukraine repatriated the bodies of 501 fallen soldiers, most of whom died in Donetsk Oblast.

On October 20, a representative of the Coordination Headquarters, Petro Yatsenko, reported that Russia had not returned the body of journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, whose death in captivity was confirmed on October 10.