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Russia and Ukraine Exchange Bodies of Fallen Soldiers

evening · · thread: Civilians Face Shelter Shortages in Kyiv as EU Restricts Flight for Military Age Men

3 sources across 3 countries · Chile · Latvia · Ukraine

Who reported this

  • La Tercera Chile · Centre-right · Copesa (Saieh family)
  • Meduza Latvia · Centre-left · Crowdfunded; exiled Russian newsroom
  • Kyiv Independent Ukraine · Centre · Reader-funded, journalist-owned

What the colours mean

  • Left
  • Centre-left
  • Centre
  • Centre-right
  • Right
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Russia and Ukraine carried out an exchange of fallen soldiers on August 13. Russia handed over 261 bodies, while Ukraine provided 24. The exchange was confirmed by Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and by Shamsail Saraliev, a deputy in the Russian State Duma. The International Committee of the Red Cross facilitated the operation. This follows a previous exchange on July 16, during which Russia returned 501 bodies and Ukraine returned between 31 and 501 bodies, depending on the source. Ukrainian officials stated that forensic experts will now conduct identification procedures to determine the identities of the 261 repatriated individuals. Center leaning coverage notes that Russia has previously returned bodies of its own soldiers to Kyiv, suggesting this may be an attempt to avoid paying compensation to Russian families. Center right leaning coverage emphasizes the disparity in the number of bodies exchanged between the two nations.

How each side framed it

Centre-left
Presented the event as a straightforward exchange of figures provided by official sources.
Centre
Focused on the identification process and the possibility that Russia returns its own soldiers to avoid compensation payments.
Centre-right
Highlighted the numerical disparity between the number of bodies delivered by Russia versus Ukraine.

Sources

90% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.