Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klimenko told the families of Russian servicemen how they can collect the bodies of their dead relatives after the discovery of remains with military tags.
He reported this on his Telegram channel.
Identity of Russian soldiers can be established by badge number
Tokens with numbers AB 846408 and AB 449638 were found on the bodies.
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The Ukrainian side carried out the necessary checks, inspections and examinations, after which it returned both bodies to the Russian side as part of the official repatriation procedure.
“In compliance with humanitarian principles and agreements on repatriation, the Ukrainian side returned these two bodies to the Russian side within the framework of the official procedure,” Klimenko said.
However, the minister noted that Ukraine has no confirmation that the Russian side informed the relatives of the victims about the return of the bodies to Russian territory.
Therefore, the Ukrainian side is directly addressing the families of Russian servicemen who identified the indicated numbers of military tokens and have still not received the body of their loved one.
Before handing over the bodies, Ukrainian experts collected DNA samples.
If relatives have reason to believe that one of the victims is their relative, they are advised to immediately contact the International Commission on Missing Persons.
The procedure involves registering through the ICMP online centre, visiting the commission's headquarters in The Hague in person and providing a DNA sample for comparison.
After this, it will be possible to officially confirm that this particular body was located on Ukrainian territory and was handed over to the Russian side.
— According to the available information, the Russian authorities are trying to reduce the amount of compensation payments to the families of the deceased. Therefore, the Russian side may hide the facts of the repatriation of the bodies of the deceased or even dispose of the bodies, — Klimenko explained.
Earlier, the Ministry of Internal Affairs named the Russians whose bodies the Russian Federation handed over under the guise of Ukrainian military personnel during the latest repatriations.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia handed over to Ukraine the bodies of 20 of its dead soldiers, some of whom even had passports.
