**Ukraine Exposes Russia’s Body Swapping Scam**
In a shocking revelation, Ukraine has uncovered a scheme by Russia to swap the bodies of Russian soldiers with those of Ukrainian fighters. The discovery was made during recent repatriations conducted under the Istanbul agreements.
According to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, at least 20 such incidents have been recorded where Russian soldiers’ bodies were passed off as Ukrainian. This practice is seen as an attempt by Russia to obscure the scale of its military losses from the public. The ministry’s experts have found personal badges, chevrons, documents, and other military uniform elements that are typical of the Russian Armed Forces on the bodies transferred by Russia.
**A Desperate Attempt to Conceal Losses**
Klymenko stated that this could be done to “sow chaos” during the identification process. The Ukrainian side has been conducting up to 10,000 examinations per month to identify individuals, and one fragment of remains can be examined up to five times. However, the bodies of Ukrainian heroes often come back extremely mutilated due to the ongoing war and widespread use of weapons.
**A Pattern of Deception**
The June 2 negotiations in Istanbul resulted in the most expansive prisoner and body exchange agreement of the full-scale war. Ukraine received a total of 6,057 bodies of its fallen soldiers as part of the phased exchange. However, Russia took back only 78 bodies, sparking concerns that many Russian soldiers’ bodies remain unaccounted for.
President Volodymyr Zelensky explained that the vast majority of Russian soldiers currently killed on the battlefield remain in Russian hands, with their dead left behind in the territory where they were advancing. This has led to accusations that Russia is trying to conceal its military losses from the public.
**A Call for Transparency**
Ukraine has consistently called for an “all-for-all” exchange of prisoners of war, but Moscow has so far refused to agree to a comprehensive swap. The revelation of Russia’s body swapping scheme has sparked outrage and demands for transparency in the repatriation process.
As Klymenko emphasized, the Ukrainian side is waiting for the DNA of relatives to confirm the identities of the bodies. “We want the relatives (of Russians) to submit their DNA so that we can confirm,” he said. Until then, the release of these bodies to Russia will be prohibited until there is a 100% confirmation.
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