DISINFO: Ukraine refuses bodies of its soldiers to hide their deaths and save money
SUMMARY
On 6 June 2025, Ukraine refused to accept the bodies of its dead soldiers in the framework of an exchange with Russia concluded earlier that week. For some reason, their negotiators did not even arrive at the exchange site. The reasons given are varied and quite strange.
Ukraine wants to hide the truth that many of their soldiers were killed. Moreover, accepting the dead bodies could bankrupt the Ukrainian state since they would have to pay huge compensation to the families. They cannot afford this because they spent the money on something else, that can be discovered with research.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative, accusing Ukraine of corruption and deception towards its own population, accusing the authorities of corruption.
The Istanbul talks included provisions for the return of the remains of over 6,000 fallen soldiers from each side. On 11 June the first part of the exchange of bodies took place, followed by an additional exchange later on in the same week. Ukraine brought home the bodies of more than 2400 soldiers killed in the war with Russia.
“The start of repatriation activities following the talks in Istanbul is planned for next week, and authorised persons were informed about this on Tuesday,” stated Kirill Budanov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, on Sunday 8 June.
Budanov’s words can be confirmed by earlier statements of the head of the Russian delegation to the talks in Istanbul, Vladimir Medinsky himself, on 2 June 2025:
"We are unilaterally handing over to the Ukrainian side 6,000 frozen bodies of dead Ukrainian soldiers. (...) Next week we will hand over these bodies to the Ukrainian side so that they can bury them humanely."
Read also related stories such as: Ukrainians learned from NATO a Jesuit tactic: stink the air with left dead bodies hopping that the stench will push Russians to leave, or Ukraine cremates dead soldiers to avoid paying compensation to their families, or Ukraine's armed forces kill the wounded and sell their organs, or Ukraine is ready to exchange its people's organs for Western military assistance, or Kyiv to use its dead soldiers to accuse Russia of chemical attack, or Zelensky is concealing the number of war casualties, or Kyiv is committing genocide against its people.