Russia and Ukraine have carried out another exchange of the bodies of fallen servicemen, according to Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to the Russian president.

Medinsky reported via his official Telegram channel that, under the Istanbul agreements, Ukraine was handed the bodies of 1,000 deceased Ukrainian soldiers. In return, Kiev transferred 38 bodies of Russian fighters.

The same figures were confirmed by Shamsail Saraliev, a State Duma deputy and representative of the parliamentary coordination group overseeing issues related to the military operation.

The previous exchange of this kind took place on December 19, 2025. At that time, Moscow also returned 1,000 bodies to Kiev, receiving 26 in exchange.

In December 2025, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Russia had already returned more than 11,000 bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers.

Throughout 2025, Moscow and Kiev held several rounds of talks in Istanbul, which resulted in an agreement on indefinite humanitarian exchanges involving severely wounded and seriously ill individuals. Russia also expressed readiness to transfer an additional 3,000 bodies of Ukrainian servicemen and proposed a large-scale prisoner swap based on a formula of at least 1,200 for 1,200.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly emphasized that humanitarian issues remain central to the negotiation process.