Ukraine repatriates 252 bodies that may belong to Ukrainian service members
Ukraine has repatriated the bodies of 252 people who, according to Russia, are Ukrainian service members, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported on 22 October 2026. Law enforcement officers and forensic medical experts must now establish their identities.
Repatriation was organised by the Coordination Headquarters, the Joint Centre under the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Office of Ukraine’s Ombudsman, the State Emergency Service and other state bodies. The International Committee of the Red Cross also facilitated the return of the bodies.
Armed Forces of Ukraine personnel will transport the bodies to specialised state institutions and hand them over to law enforcement and forensic experts. Specialists will conduct the necessary examinations to identify the deceased.
In the previous repatriation, on 17 September, Ukraine also returned the bodies of 252 people, among whom, according to the Russian side, there could have been service members.
As of 3 October 2026, Ukraine had returned more than 26,000 bodies and remains of the deceased from Russia, though a significant portion of them remain unidentified.
Due to difficulties in identifying the bodies, it was decided to create a working body under the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine to coordinate the work of the state bodies responsible. The government also plans to increase the number of forensic experts and create specialised identification bureaus for the bodies of service members in the regions.
In addition, Ukraine plans to improve legislation regarding the search for missing persons and the identification of the bodies of those killed. Specifically, draft law No. 14095 provides for the possibility of involving international specialists and using digital copies of fingerprints to establish identity.
US president Donald Trump has not secured an end to Russia’s war within 24 hours of taking office, as he had promised. Furthermore, numerous Ukrainian and international experts point out that the US, as a guarantor state under the Budapest Memorandum, is pressuring Kyiv into capitulation.
Lindsey Graham Act, which he signed in September.
Reuters reported that Russian diesel cargoes are returning to their traditional destinations after Trump suspended sanctions and secured the lifting of an export ban, with at least two tankers signalling trips to Türkiye and Brazil lately, according to shipping data from Kpler and LSEG.
Related: US firms account for over 75% of parts in examined Geran-4 controller
Human rights organisations and Ukrainian authorities emphasise that structural economic pressure remains a key tool to halt such atrocities. They urge every nation and individual government worldwide to strictly enforce global sanctions, close existing regulatory loopholes, and completely sever remaining commercial and technological ties with the Russian Federation. Civil society groups stress that any continued cooperation by foreign businesses directly contributes to the resources Moscow uses to sustain its ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
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