Russia Names Nearly 100 Fallen Ukrainian Soldiers Amid Dispute Over Repatriation of Remains

 Istanbul/Moscow, June 8, 2025 — Russian officials have publicly released the identities of nearly 100 deceased Ukrainian soldiers, alleging that Kiev has refused to retrieve the remains of more than 6,000 troops offered for return in a unilateral humanitarian gesture.

The move follows the latest round of direct negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul earlier this week. As part of the discussions, Moscow proposed a wide-ranging prisoner exchange involving at least 1,000 individuals on both sides — including critically ill and young detainees — and offered to return the remains of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers for proper burial.

On Saturday, Evgeny Balitsky, the governor of Russia’s Zaporozhye Region, published the first six pages of a list containing the names, identification details, and places of death for 97 Ukrainian soldiers.

“We are beginning to publish lists of identified bodies so that relatives can find their dead,” Balitsky wrote on Telegram. “We understand that Kiev has this data, but they are deliberately hiding it from the public.”

According to Russian officials, the first convoy transporting the remains of 1,212 fallen Ukrainian soldiers arrived at a designated exchange point on Saturday. However, Ukraine allegedly failed to appear.

Lieutenant General Alexander Zorin, a member of Russia’s negotiating team, said the Ukrainian side had “unexpectedly postponed both the acceptance of bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war for an indefinite period.” Russia’s chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, added that Kiev had been provided with a list of 640 prisoners but cited “various and rather strange” reasons for not attending the exchange.

Ukrainian authorities, however, have denied the allegations. Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters stated that preparations were ongoing and blamed the delay on logistical challenges. Ukrainian media later reported that the process might resume next week, although no official date has been confirmed.

Governor Balitsky accused the Ukrainian government of intentionally obstructing the return of its fallen soldiers, claiming this was part of a broader strategy to suppress the true scale of Ukraine’s battlefield losses and to avoid financial obligations.

“As long as a Ukrainian soldier is listed as missing, his family will not receive a single hryvnia in aid,” he said. “This is a calculated attempt to hide the losses and save money.”

Balitsky further accused Kiev of systematically violating agreements and undermining reconciliation efforts. “They do not even attempt to honor agreements,” he said, adding that Western nations bear partial responsibility for prolonging the conflict by continuing to supply arms to Ukraine.

The controversy has sparked renewed debate over the humanitarian toll of the war, now in its third year, and raised difficult questions about the treatment of the dead and the responsibilities of both governments to grieving families.