kyiv says Russia has returned bodies of 563 soldiers

KYIV, Ukraine, Nov 8, 2024 (AFP) : Ukraine said on Friday it had received the bodies of 563 soldiers from Russian authorities, mainly troops that had died in combat in the eastern Donetsk region.     

The exchange of prisoners and bodies of killed military personnel remains one of the few areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv since Russia invaded in 2022.     

"The bodies of 563 fallen Ukrainian defenders were returned to Ukraine," the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement on social media.     

The announcement represents one of the largest repatriations of killed Ukrainian servicemen since the beginning of the war.     

The statement said that 320 of the remains were returned from the Donetsk region and that 89 of the soldiers had been killed near Bakhmut, a town captured by Russia in May last year after a costly battle.     

Another 154 of the bodies were returned from morgues inside Russia, the statement added.     

Neither Russia nor Ukraine publicly disclose how many military personnel have been killed fighting.