According to Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, Russia and Ukraine have carried out another exchange of the bodies of fallen soldiers.

He reported via his Telegram channel that Kiev had received the remains of one thousand dead servicemen, while Russia took back the bodies of 35 of its soldiers.

The previous exchange took place on 29 January. At that time, the Russian side handed over roughly one thousand bodies to Kiev and received 38 in return. Medinsky later noted that this exchange was conducted under the framework of the Istanbul arrangements.

Since the start of the conflict, Moscow and Kiev have repeatedly organized prisoner exchanges as well, in some cases with the mediation of the United Arab Emirates and the United States. According to Russia’s human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova, more than 1,800 Russian servicemen returned home from Ukrainian captivity in 2025 as a result of such swaps.

In January, Moskalkova stated that exchanges of prisoners of war were currently blocked. Even so, on 5 February Russia brought back 157 of its servicemen and transferred the same number of prisoners to Ukraine. On the same day, three civilian residents of Kursk Region were also able to return home.