Russia Hands Over 528 Bodies to Ukraine

As a result of repatriation efforts, the remains of 528 individuals have been returned to Ukraine; according to Russian authorities, they may be Ukrainian soldiers, the Ukrainian prisoner of war centre said on social media, without specifying when the remains were received.

“Investigators and experts will take all necessary steps to identify the returned remains,” the centre said, a day after Russia and Ukraine exchanged 205 prisoners of war.

As reported by the AFP news agency on Saturday (16 May 2026), US President Donald Trump had previously announced a three-day ceasefire in the conflict from Saturday to the following Monday, as well as the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky affirmed that the prisoner exchange on Friday marked the first phase of the exchange announced by Trump.

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago, prisoner exchanges and the return of the remains of fallen fighters have been one of the few areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv.