“They Threw the Corpses of Their Citizens at Us”: Russia Sends Their Own Dead to Ukraine

20 of the corpses Russia gave to Ukraine turned out to be Russian soldiers.

Disorganized and Disrespectful

President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of returning the corpses of its own soldiers to Ukraine while claiming they were Ukrainian.

He described the move as both disorganized and deeply disrespectful, stating, “They threw the corpses of their citizens at us.”

Body Swap Discrepancy Raises Questions

The June exchange involved Ukraine receiving the remains of 6,057 of its soldiers, while Russia reportedly handed over 6,060 bodies and claimed to have repatriated 78 of its own.

However, 20 of the corpses Russia gave to Ukraine turned out to be Russian soldiers, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Russian Passports Found on the Dead

Zelensky revealed that some of the returned bodies were accompanied by Russian military IDs and even passports.

“Sometimes these bodies even have Russian passports,” he said, citing it as evidence of Moscow’s failure to manage the exchange process properly.

Red Cross Observed the Exchange

The repatriation process was monitored by the Red Cross, and the bodies were exchanged after prior negotiations.

Still, the confusion over the nationalities of the deceased has sparked outrage and claims of contempt from the Ukrainian side.

A Name Among the Dead: Alexander Bugaev

One of the identified bodies was that of Alexander Viktorovich Bugaev, a Russian soldier born in 1974.

His military ID linked him to the 39th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade. His body was reportedly labeled as Ukrainian by Russian authorities.

A Family Left in the Dark

Ukrainian officials noted that Bugaev’s family had been searching for him for months.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko stated that Russia had located Bugaev’s body after a battle in Donetsk but still passed it to Ukraine under false pretenses.

“Proof of Contempt,” Says Ukrainian Official

“This is yet another proof of how Russia treats its people with contempt,” Klymenko said.

He emphasized the inhumanity of using dead soldiers as bargaining chips and accused Russia of abandoning its own in death as in life.

Speculation Over Motives: Compensation Avoidance?

Officials questioned whether the mislabeling was a strategy to avoid paying compensation to the families of the deceased.

Klymenko warned that Russia would be held accountable regardless: “We are returning these bodies.”

Israeli Mercenary Among the Dead

Zelensky also noted that one of the bodies was that of an Israeli national who had been fighting for Russian forces.

This underscores the complex international makeup of those involved in the conflict on Russia’s side.