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On July 16, another exchange of fallen soldiers’ remains took place on the Belarusian border between Russia and Ukraine. The Russian side handed over 501 bodies of deceased Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel and received the remains of 31 Russian soldiers in return.
This humanitarian operation marked the 13th such exchange (of bodies or prisoners) since the beginning of 2026. Throughout July, both sides have also been engaged in active negotiations to prepare new prisoner swaps, although specific dates have not been disclosed. Body and prisoner exchanges remain among the very few areas of humanitarian cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv since the full-scale conflict began in 2022.
The previous body exchange occurred on June 18, when Russia transferred 522 bodies to Ukraine and received 33 in return. Over the course of these two most recent exchanges alone, Kyiv has received more than 1,000 bodies of its servicemen, while Russia has received 64. Earlier, in April 2026, the exchange followed a 1,000-to-41 formula. This stark disproportion has remained consistent throughout 2026.
In May, Ukraine received 528 bodies in exchange for 41. In February, it was 1,000 to 38, and in January, also 1,000 to 38. The second half of 2025 showed the same pattern: in December, Ukraine received 1,003 bodies while Russia got 26; in November — 1,000 to 30; in October — 1,000 to 31; and in September — 1,000 to 24.
Overall, since the beginning of the conflict, Russia has transferred the remains of approximately 25,477 Ukrainian servicemen, while Ukraine has returned 3,483 bodies to Russia — a ratio of roughly 7.31 to 1. However, when looking only at data from 2026, the gap widens dramatically to 21.54 to 1.
Russian diplomat Rodion Miroshnik, commenting on the imbalance, stated that Ukraine is deliberately avoiding large-scale body exchanges in order to conceal the true scale of its military losses.
“If Kyiv had more bodies of fallen Russian servicemen, they would certainly try to hand over as many as possible and give the story maximum coverage in Western media,” he noted. “The more than 15-fold difference in the number of remains transferred speaks volumes about the real ratio of losses on the battlefield.”
In parallel with the body exchanges, both sides have been actively negotiating new prisoner swaps since the start of the month.
Russia’s Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova reported on July 2 that Russia and Ukraine were working on a new round of prisoner exchanges and that the lists were being finalized. And on July 8, she said preparations were continuing non-stop. On July 12, Newsonair reported that Russia and Ukraine had exchanged 200 prisoners each and were planning to swap another 300 the following day. Later on July 13, Lantratova confirmed that another prisoner exchange would take place in the near future, but the exact date would not be announced in order to avoid jeopardizing the process.
More recently on July 15, the ombudsman announced that since taking office she had helped bring home 550 Russian prisoners of war. She also highlighted effective communication with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Lubinets. The two sides have agreed on mutual visits to prisoners, the exchange of letters and parcels, and the sharing of certificates for payments to families of the deceased.
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