As part of repatriation efforts, russia handed over the bodies of 375 deceased Ukrainian military personnel and civilians who had been confirmed as prisoners of war. This was reported in an interview with Ukrinform by the head of the Secretariat of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Bohdan Okhrimenko.
“Unfortunately, as part of repatriation efforts, russia handed over 375 dead Ukrainian military personnel and civilians who had been considered prisoners of war. Of these, 146 were confirmed by the ICRC as prisoners, and the captivity of 229 people was confirmed by other sources, including testimonies of those released from captivity. Russia handed over their bodies with signs of torture, exhaustion, and lack of medical care”, - he said.
Okhrimenko added that Ukrainian law enforcement agencies document all such cases and pass the information to the International Criminal Court.
“In general, according to the Third Geneva Convention, the russian federation bears responsibility for the life and health of prisoners it holds. When it informs the ICRC about the capture of such servicemen, it guarantees the provision of their basic needs — food, clothing, and medical care. Russia does not fulfill these obligations, and when the bodies of prisoners of war are handed over to us, we once again document war crimes”, - noted the head of the Secretariat of the Coordination Headquarters.
Earlier, in 2024, it became known that Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who went missing on August 3, 2023, in territory temporarily occupied by russia, died in russian captivity. At the beginning of 2025, russia handed over her body with signs of torture and missing organs.
On September 7, 2024, in pre-trial detention center No. 3 in the city of Kizel, Perm Krai, russia, the mayor of temporarily occupied Dniprorudne in the Zaporizhzhia oblast, Yevhen Matveiev, died from multiple injuries and trauma.