Russia will unilaterally transfer 6,000 bodies of Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers to Ukraine

Moscow will unilaterally transfer 6,000 bodies of soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to Kiev. This was announced on June 2 following the results of the second round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul by the head of the Russian delegation, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky.

"We have solved several practical issues. Firstly, we are unilaterally transferring 6,000 frozen bodies of dead Ukrainian soldiers and officers to the Ukrainian side," Medinsky said.

He also said that during the negotiations, the delegations agreed to exchange the seriously injured and sick according to the "all for all" formula. In addition, the parties will exchange soldiers under the age of 25.

The head of the Russian delegation added that Russia and Ukraine would create a commission to exchange seriously wounded soldiers without political decisions.

Terms of contact: what did the delegations of the Russian Federation and Ukraine come to Istanbul to negotiate with

Why is Kiev making excessive demands and what will its envoys hear on June 2?

The second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul ended earlier in the day. According to a source in Izvestia, they lasted more than an hour and were broadcast in Russian. According to the source, during the meeting, the parties discussed in detail possible prisoner exchanges.

The Russian delegation included Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Igor Kostyukov, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. The Kiev negotiating group is headed by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umerov, and its composition has been expanded to 14 people.