Russia Transferred at Least 20 Russian Bodies Disguised as Ukrainian

Russia has transferred the bodies of at least 20 of its own soldiers — and even a foreign national — disguised as fallen Ukrainian servicemembers during recent exchanges, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Speaking at a press briefing, Zelensky reported that some of the bodies returned under the Istanbul agreements included Russian soldiers carrying Russian passports. They included an Israeli citizen who fought for Russia and whose body was returned with Israeli identification documents.

“It has already been documented during repatriations that the bodies of 20 individuals transferred to us as fallen Ukrainian soldiers were, in fact, Russians,” Zelensky said. “For example, one was an Israeli mercenary fighting on their side. An Israeli citizen. With Israeli documents.

They told us these were only Ukrainians and only military. But that is a lie — and it’s now recorded.”

Zelensky said these cases are not isolated, suggesting a deliberate attempt by Russia to inflate the number of Ukrainian military fatalities.

“We want to bring home all of our soldiers and our heroes’ remains. But we certainly do not want to retrieve Russian bodies just for the sake of the numbers,” he said.

Ukraine has informed the Russian side of the issue and expressed readiness to return the remains of Russian soldiers, Zelensky added.

However, there has been no constructive response from Moscow.

On June 16, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko was the first to report that during recent repatriations, the Russian side had included the remains of its own personnel among those of Ukrainians.

According to Klymenko, the remains often arrive in severely mutilated condition, complicating identification. In some cases, parts of the same body are sent in separate exchanges.

“There are cases where the remains of one person are returned in different stages of repatriation,” Klymenko said. “And during the latest transfers, Russian soldiers’ bodies were mixed in with those of Ukrainians. Unfortunately, this is a fact.”

One of the bodies — marked No. 192/25 — was dressed in a Russian military uniform. Recovered documents included a Russian passport, military ID, a service certificate, a commander’s order dated December 26, 2023, and an ID tag marked “VS RUSSIA MT-146004.”