The number of the exchange amounts to 50 identified servicemen

Ukraine and Russia exchange bodies of fallen soldiers for the second time

Ukraine and Russia exchanged the bodies of 50 soldiers killed in combat on Wednesday, Ukrainian government sources said.

The Ministry of Reintegration of the Occupied Territories announced in a statement that the exchange had taken place on the front line in the Zaporiyia region (southern Ukraine), according to the formula "50 for 50".

Of the 50 bodies recovered by Ukraine, 37 were "heroic defenders of Azovstal", the statement said, referring to the soldiers who held out for weeks at the steelworks besieged by Russian forces in the city of Mariupol.

The operation involved the Ministry of Defence, the Defence Ministry, the National Intelligence Directorate and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"The process of recovering the bodies of the dead Ukrainian soldiers continues," the statement concluded.

The first exchange took place on 2 June, according to Ukrainian sources, in which the bodies of 160 Russian soldiers were exchanged for 160 Ukrainian troops.

More in Politics