Today marked the completion of repatriation efforts in accordance with the agreements reached in Istanbul. Ukraine has received an additional 1245 bodies, which the Russian side claims belong to Ukrainian citizens, including military personnel. This brings the total number of bodies repatriated under the Istanbul agreements to 6057.

Investigative authorities, together with expert institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, will conduct all necessary examinations and identification of the repatriated bodies.

The repatriation efforts were made possible through the collaboration of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the Joint Center under the Security Service of Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the Office of the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights, the Secretariat of the Commissioner for Persons Missing Under Special Circumstances, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, and other sectors of the security and defense.

We express our gratitude to the International Committee of the Red Cross for their assistance.

A special thanks goes to the personnel of the Central Administration of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Joint Center for ensuring repatriation measures, who are responsible for transporting the repatriated individuals to designated state specialized institutions and coordinating the transfer of the deceased to law enforcement representatives and forensic medical examination systems.