Ukraine Agrees To Take Bodies Of 6,000 Slain Troops, But Not Really (Video)

Foreign journalists are seen by trucks carrying the bodies of servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces © Dmitry Radchenko/TASS

Following several days of delays, Ukraine’s intelligence chief said on June 8 that the country would go on with what it called “a prisoner exchange” agreed upon with Russia during the last round of talks in Turkey, without providing any real timeframe or explaining why Kiev refused to take the bodies of over 6,000 of its troops who were killed in action.

“The start of repatriation activities based on results and negotiations in Istanbul is scheduled for next week, as authorized persons on Tuesday [June 3] were informed,” Kyrylo Budanov said in a statement.

“Everything is moving according to plan,” he added, without actually clarifying what is actually the plan that even the Russian was not apparently informed of.

Russia prepared the bodies for the handover around two days ago, but Ukraine simply ignored the situation for the whole time.

Lieutenant General Alexander Zorin, who is a part of the Russian negotiating group, confirmed on June 8 that Russia had delivered the first batch of 1,212 bodies of Ukrainian troops to the exchange in accordance with the agreement reached in Istanbul.

“In strict compliance with the accords reached during the Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Istanbul on June 2 and pursuant to the schedule agreed with the Ukrainian side in Istanbul, the Russian side has delivered the bodies of Ukrainian servicemen prepared for repatriation to the area of exchange. This is the first batch, the first part consisting of 1,212 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers, many of whom have been identified but all of them have been identified as Ukrainian servicemen by their uniform and the area where they were found,” Zorin said.

“I can tell you that now, literally in an hour, repatriation trains, which also have the bodies of servicemen, will start their movement so that the Russian side can honor its pledges that we gave to Ukrainians during the Istanbul talks, namely, the pledges to return more than six thousand bodies of servicemen found in the special military operation zone,” the commander continued.

“Let me repeat, we are ready to return over 6,000 bodies in batches by motor transport and railway transport. I have no other comments with regard to the polemics that this is some sort of a politicized decision. This is a purely humanitarian action and not the first one. Unfortunately, this is not the last one, apparently. We, the Russian side, are absolutely ready to fulfil all the accords, implement all the agreements both in the context of returning the bodies of dead Ukrainian servicemen and in the context of exchanging prisoners-of-war,” he added.

Lt. Gen. Zorin suggested that the handover will take place next week, without specifying a date, apparently because the Ukrainians are yet to provide one.

“There are signals that the humanitarian action will be postponed to next week. I confirm that we are waiting for an official confirmation through the channel known to the Ukrainian side that an action for the return of the bodies will take place. Let me repeat, we are ready to return over six thousand bodies in batches by motor transport and railway transport. I have no other comments with regard to the polemics that this is some politicized decision. This is a purely humanitarian action, not the first one and, unfortunately, not the last one, apparently,” the Russian general said.

The refrigerated trucks carrying the bodies of Ukrainian troops were showcased to foreign journalists, who experienced their shock over Kiev’s reluctance to take back its troops.

“The inhuman regime in Kiev simply rudely refused these vehicles, these bodies,” RIA Novosti quoted former United States Army officer Stanislav Krapivnik as saying.

Meanwhile, editor-in-chief of the Italian edition of International Reporters Andrea Lucidi noted that Kiev’s refusal to take the bodies shows a “massive lack of respect” for the sacrifices made by Ukrainian troops.

Lebanese journalist of the Al-Mayadeen TV channel Shaeto Musallam from his side explained why in his opinion Ukraine does not want to take the bodies.

“[Ukraine refused] for two reasons. One is unimportant: to avoid provoking the anger of the parents of the victims who died because of this war that Zelensky and his colleagues from the Anglo-Saxon [countries] started… And the second is in order not to pay the money that he should pay them for the fact that they died,” he said.

Ukrainian media made all sorts of claims in recent days to justify why the country is refusing to take the bodies of its own troops. In response, governor of the Zaporozhye region, Yevgeny Balitsky, published on Telegram lists revealing the identities of dozens of the bodies.

All in all, Kiev appears to have moved from ignoring to stalling. There is still no guarantee that Ukraine will eventually take the bodies. For the country rulers, this issue threatens their political argument, as it reveals a major gap in casualties with Russia. It also poses a financial burden as a total of 13.5 billion hryvnias, or $328 million, will be due to the families of the slain troops if the bodies are taken.

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