Russia has returned the our bodies of 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers to Kyiv, marking one of many largest repatriations of stays because the battle started greater than three years in the past.
The return on Friday was made following an settlement reached throughout peace talks in Istanbul final month.
Nevertheless, Moscow has claimed this newest trade was one-sided, claiming that Ukraine has did not return the our bodies of its fallen troopers.
“Right this moment, Russia handed over 1,200 our bodies of deceased troopers of the Ukrainian armed forces to Ukraine. Not a single one was handed over to us,” an unnamed supply instructed Russia’s state-run TASS information company.
Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky additionally claimed that Ukraine instantly postponed the handover of stays and prisoner exchanges on June 7, with out providing a public rationalization.
Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Therapy of Prisoners of Warfare mentioned in a press release on Friday that forensic consultants will now work to determine the stays they acquired, including that the our bodies had been believed to be these of Ukrainian army personnel.
Earlier this week, Russia returned one other 1,212 our bodies and acquired simply 27 our bodies of its personal troops in return.
Regardless of tensions, either side have agreed in precept to trade as much as 6,000 our bodies and prioritise the discharge of sick and severely wounded prisoners of battle, in addition to these underneath the age of 25.
EU safety for Ukrainian refugees
In the meantime, because the battle continues between Russia and Ukraine, the European Union has prolonged its short-term safety scheme for Ukrainian refugees by one other 12 months, permitting them to stay within the bloc till March 2027.
The EU’s transfer, introduced on Friday, comes amid ongoing air raids and strikes throughout Ukraine, which have displaced tens of millions because the begin of Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
Greater than 4.3 million Ukrainians are presently registered underneath the scheme, with Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic internet hosting the biggest refugee populations.
“Whereas Russia continues to terrorise Ukrainian civilians with indiscriminate air strikes, the EU continues to point out its solidarity,” mentioned Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland’s inside minister.
“We’ll proceed to supply safety for tens of millions of Ukrainian refugees for one more 12 months.”
Preventing continues
Heavy preventing continued throughout the entrance line on Friday, with new casualties reported in each Ukraine and Russia.
In Russia’s Belgorod area, a two-year-old boy was killed and two adults, together with his grandmother, had been wounded in what officers mentioned was a Ukrainian drone strike in a single day, in response to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed it had intercepted 260 Ukrainian drones over the previous 24 hours, whereas over the previous week, Moscow says its air defences downed a Neptune long-range missile, 18 JDAM guided bombs, 9 US-made HIMARS rockets, and 1,582 fixed-wing drones from Ukraine.
In Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian Governor Ivan Fedorov reported one individual killed and three injured in Russian shelling, whereas in Donetsk, Ukrainian Governor Vadym Filashkin mentioned two civilians had been killed and 5 injured throughout the area.
It comes after the Ukrainian army mentioned it had struck the Rezonit electronics manufacturing facility close to Moscow, triggering explosions. The Common Workers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine later reported 113 Russian assaults throughout key fronts, together with in Lyman, Pokrovsk, Novopavlivka and Kurakhove.
