Ukraine repatriates 261 bodies that Russia claims belong to Ukrainian soldiers

Aug 13, 2026

Ukraine repatriated 261 bodies on August 13, 2026, which Russian authorities claim belong to Ukrainian service members. Facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the operation represents a rare area of ongoing humanitarian cooperation since peace talks stalled in 2025. Ukrainian forensic experts must now identify the remains and conduct safety sweeps due to previous discoveries of explosives in returned bodies. Ukrainian officials also allege Russia has previously returned its own dead to avoid compensating Russian families.

Repatriation of 261 bodies

▪The repatriation of 261 bodies on August 13, 2026, follows a previous operation on July 16, 2026, in which Ukraine repatriated 501 bodies that Russia claimed belonged to Ukrainian service members.
▪Ukraine repatriated the bodies of 261 deceased individuals on August 13, 2026, which the Russian side claims belong to Ukrainian service members.

Forensic identification process

▪Ukrainian investigators began conducting mandatory safety checks on repatriated bodies as of late June 2026 due to explosive devices being discovered multiple times inside the remains of returned Ukrainian servicemen.
▪Ukrainian law enforcement investigators and forensic experts will conduct examinations and identification procedures to establish the identities of the 261 repatriated bodies.

Interagency coordination efforts

▪The repatriation operation on August 13, 2026, was coordinated by Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War alongside the Security Service of Ukraine, the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and other state agencies.
▪The Joint Center for Civil-Military Cooperation Measures of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is responsible for transporting the repatriated remains to specialized state institutions and coordinating their transfer to forensic experts and law enforcement.

ICRC facilitation role

▪The International Committee of the Red Cross assisted and facilitated the repatriation of the 261 bodies to Ukraine on August 13, 2026.
▪Ukrainian authorities expressed gratitude to the International Committee of the Red Cross for its support in organizing and implementing the repatriation efforts.

Russian soldiers misidentified

▪While Ukraine regularly reports the number of repatriated bodies it receives from Russia, it does not publish data on the remains of Russian soldiers returned to Moscow.
▪Ukrainian officials allege that Russia has occasionally returned the bodies of its own soldiers disguised as Ukrainians to avoid paying state compensation to the families of deceased Russian servicemen.

Peace talks impact

▪The repatriation of fallen Ukrainians accelerated when peace talks resumed in early 2025, but the operations have continued as one of the few remaining areas of humanitarian cooperation after those talks stopped.
▪The return of deceased individuals marks a painstaking process that requires forensic expertise, careful investigation, and answers for waiting families.