Ukraine returns bodies of 503 fallen defenders from Russia

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported this on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.

Of the fallen, 403 were recovered from the Donetsk sector, 12 from the Luhansk sector, and 57 from the Zaporizhzhia sector. Additionally, 31 bodies were repatriated from Russian morgues.

The Coordination Headquarters said the repatriation was the result of collaborative efforts involving multiple agencies, including the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the Central Directorate for Civil-Military Cooperation of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Joint Center of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, the Office of the Verkhovna Rada Human Rights Commissioner, the Secretariat of the Commissioner for Persons Gone Missing in Special Circumstances, and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

The Coordination Headquarters thanked the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Ukrainian military personnel responsible for transporting the fallen heroes to designated state institutions. These personnel facilitate the transfer of the bodies to law enforcement agencies and forensic medical experts for identification.

Expert institutions will expedite the identification process to ensure that the fallen defenders are quickly and properly honored.

The bodies of 502 fallen Ukrainian defenders were returned to Ukraine on November 29.