Moscow - Saba:
The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that Moscow will soon begin the process of transferring 6,000 bodies of deceased Ukrainian soldiers to authorities in Kyiv.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated during a media briefing that this would be carried out in accordance with the agreements reached during the second round of Istanbul negotiations held last Monday.
Zakharova added, "The results of this second round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are known: As a gesture of goodwill, I reiterate that the Russian side will hand over 6,000 bodies of its soldiers to Ukraine. This process will begin soon."
Earlier, the head of the Russian delegation in the Istanbul talks, Vladimir Medinsky, announced that Moscow and Kyiv had agreed to carry out a new large-scale prisoner exchange during the negotiations in Turkey.
He said, "The exchange of critically ill and wounded prisoners will be conducted on an 'all for all' basis, while fighters under the age of 25 will also be exchanged under the same 'all for all' formula."
Medinsky added, "First, we will unilaterally hand over 6,000 frozen bodies of deceased Ukrainian soldiers to the Ukrainian side. These bodies have been preserved by us," noting that all the soldiers' bodies to be transferred have been identified.
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