On June 7, Governor of the Russian-controlled Zhaporizhia region, Evgeny Balitsky, said that a total of 97 names had been announced, along with identification documents and death spots of Ukrainian soldiers in the conflict with Russia.
Balitsky said the move was to help Ukrainians easily search for their deceased relatives as the Kiev government is reportedly refusing to receive the bodies of thousands of soldiers that Russia had pledged to return during negotiations in Istanbul ( Turkey) on June 2.
Balitsky also accused Kiev of deliberately obstructing the return of bodies, saying the Ukrainian government was trying to conceal the scale of military losses and avoid compensating relatives of the soldiers who died.
The Governor affirmed that Ukraine will only pay compensation to the families of the fallen soldiers in case the bodies are not found and will still be considered missing. This is a calculation to conceal the damage and save money, Balitsky said.
Kiev's refusal to receive the body back, Balitsky said, is part of a larger chain of violations by Ukraine. Balitsky said that the Kiev government did not seriously implement the agreement.
The round of talks in Istanbul on June 2 led to an agreement to exchange at least 1,000 prisoners from both sides, including those with serious illnesses and young people. Russia has also proposed returning more than 6,000 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers for full burial, as part of a unilateral humanitarian initiative.
Lieutenant General Alexander Zorin - a member of the Russian delegation - said that the first convoy of vehicles carrying 1,212 bodies arrived at the agreed return point on June 7, but the Ukrainian representative did not arrive. Ukraine has suddenly postponed both receiving bodies and exchanging prisoners indefinitely, Zorin said.
The head of the Russian negotiation delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, also confirmed that Kiev had been provided with a list of 640 young and injured prisoners, but did not go to the meeting place.
Mendinsky said that Ukraine gave many very different and quite confusing reasons, while calling on Kiev to strictly follow the schedule and agreements to ensure that the deceased were properly buried.
