NEWS
Russia, Ukraine Exchange Remains of 275 Fallen Soldiers in Belarus Humanitarian Swap
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged the remains of 275 soldiers killed during the ongoing war, in another humanitarian operation facilitated through Belarus, officials and Belarusian state media reported on Thursday.
The exchange took place at the Novaya Guta border crossing in Belarus, where the remains were transferred between representatives of the two sides. Shamsail Saraliyev, a State Duma lawmaker from Russia’s ruling United Russia party and a member of a parliamentary group focused on the conflict, confirmed the development to the RBC news outlet.
Under the latest arrangement, Russia handed over 252 bodies to Ukrainian authorities, while Ukraine returned the remains of 23 Russian soldiers.
Belarus, which has repeatedly played a role in facilitating humanitarian contacts between Moscow and Kyiv, described the latest operation as part of its continuing humanitarian efforts.
“Belarus continues its humanitarian mission,” the country’s state news agency Belta said in a report that included photos of the exchange.
The Ukrainian military also confirmed the exchange, highlighting the efforts of its search and recovery teams to locate and recover the remains of fallen personnel in areas affected by active hostilities.
According to the Ukrainian military, the teams continued their operations “despite the threat of drone strikes, remote mining and enemy shelling.”
Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said the 252 returned bodies would now undergo identification procedures. The process is expected to involve Ukrainian law enforcement agencies working to establish the identities of the deceased and determine the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
The headquarters also confirmed that the International Committee of the Red Cross assisted in facilitating the exchange.
The latest repatriation underscores the continuing role of humanitarian arrangements in maintaining limited contact between Russia and Ukraine despite the absence of a broader political settlement to the war.
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, direct communication between the two countries has been severely restricted.
However, prisoner exchanges and the recovery and repatriation of fallen soldiers have remained among the few areas where practical cooperation has continued.
Such exchanges are closely watched by families on both sides, as the return and identification of soldiers killed in combat can provide relatives with information about their loved ones and allow for formal burials.
The latest operation follows another major exchange of fallen soldiers carried out on August 13. During that earlier transfer, Russia received the remains of 24 of its fallen soldiers, while Ukraine received 261 bodies, according to the reported figures.
The continued exchanges demonstrate that, even amid ongoing fighting, humanitarian mechanisms involving the two sides and third-party facilitators remain operational, particularly in matters involving prisoners of war and the remains of military personnel 
killed on the battlefield.