DNA will be collected from relatives of Russian fighters abroad. This is how Ukraine wants to speed up the identification of bodies

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, together with the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), will begin collecting DNA samples abroad from relatives of Russian servicemen who died or went missing during the war in Ukraine. This is to speed up the identification of the bodies.

This was reported by the Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko during the briefing "Russia is handing over the bodies of its military: how and why the enemy is using repatriations".

According to him, until experts have finally identified the deceased, his body will not be returned to the Russian Federation. Currently, there are three cases where the bodies of Russian servicemen were identified — they have already been transferred to the Russian Federation.

Meanwhile, the Russian Federation is making identification difficult for Ukraine by mixing up the bodies of Russian soldiers with those of Ukrainians. The Russian side does not officially acknowledge this fact, as it has not yet provided any expert explanations.

However, Ukrainian investigators have already collected evidence confirming that the bodies belong to Russian military personnel. Among the evidence are personal badges, chevrons, documents, elements of military uniforms and footwear characteristic of the Russian Armed Forces. All this was discovered during forensic medical examinations and investigative actions.

The head of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry stressed that such a practice could be part of information manipulation or an attempt to mask the real losses of the Russian army. In the future, Kyiv will publish evidence that Russia transfers the bodies of its soldiers to Ukraine during repatriations, so that Russians can see not only the attitude of the Russian Federation towards its soldiers, but also, perhaps, recognize loved ones by the tattoos, documents, or other personal belongings.

"The occupiers hand over the bodies during the repatriation procedure in a mutilated and rotten state, which complicates their examination and DNA examination, however, during this year 87% of the bodies have been identified and returned to their families for burial," said Maksym Tsutskiridze, First Deputy Head of the National Police of Ukraine — the head of the Main Investigation Department.

According to Klymenko, specialists from forensic science research centers are working non-stop to identify as many repatriated bodies as possible and as quickly as possible. Several examinations are being conducted on some fragments to derive a DNA profile.

And those bodies (remains) that do not have a DNA match will be stored in healthcare facilities. Ukraine acts exclusively within the framework of humanitarian law, adhering to international agreements on the return of the bodies of the deceased.

• On June 16, another 1,245 bodies were returned to Ukraine, which, according to the Russian side, belong to Ukrainian citizens, including military personnel. It was then that the repatriation part of the Istanbul Agreements was completed. In total, within the framework of the latest exchanges, Ukraine received 6 057 bodies of the fallen. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that during the repatriation of the bodies of the fallen soldiers, Russia transferred 20 people to Ukraine who turned out to be Russian occupiers. Among them was an Israeli mercenary who fought for the Russian Federation.
• The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that the Kremlin is returning the bodies of the dead in a severely mutilated state, and during the recent repatriations, the bodies of the occupiers were also handed over. It will take Ukraine more than a year to identify the bodies.

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