Kyiv: Ukraine announced on Thursday that it had received 501 bodies from Russia, presumed to be those of fallen soldiers, in one of the few areas of cooperation between the two warring countries.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the Kyiv Prisoner of War Center stated, "As a result of efforts to repatriate remains, 501 bodies were returned to Ukraine, which, according to the Russian side, may belong to Ukrainian servicemen." The Red Cross played a role in facilitating this exchange, highlighting a rare instance of collaboration between the two nations.

The Ukrainian agency noted that investigators and forensic experts are tasked with identifying the remains. In return for the 501 bodies, Russia received the remains of 31 soldiers, confirmed by Russian Deputy Shamsiel Saraliyev in a statement to the RBC news agency.

Since the onset of the Russian war in 2002, exchanges involving prisoners and the remains of fallen fighters have been among the limited areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv. Since the beginning of the year, Russia has transferred over 4,000 bodies in six exchanges, while Ukraine has returned slightly more than 100.

In 2025, Kyiv reported receiving the remains of over 14,000 soldiers, whereas Moscow recovered fewer than 400.