About 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers and 100,000 Russian soldiers have been sacrificed

New York, N.Y. — In a somber development underscoring the ongoing human cost of war, Russia and Ukraine exchanged the bodies of 950 fallen soldiers on Friday, marking the second such exchange in less than a month. Russian officials confirmed they received the remains of 41 soldiers, while Ukraine repatriated the bodies of 909 servicemen, according to its Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

The Ukrainian soldiers were killed on the front lines across several regions: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and the northeastern Sumy region, where Ukrainian officials warn Russian forces may be preparing a new offensive. This exchange, like those before it, highlights one of the few remaining avenues of cooperation between the two nations since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began over three years ago.

Friday’s swap follows a similar exchange on March 28, when the bodies of 909 Ukrainian soldiers were returned in exchange for the remains of 43 Russian soldiers. Since October, this marks the eighth exchange involving the remains of 500 or more Ukrainian soldiers, reflecting the staggering scale of losses suffered by both sides.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently told CBS News that up to 100,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed since the conflict escalated in February 2022.

Russia, meanwhile, has not updated its official casualty figures since late 2022, when it acknowledged fewer than 6,000 combat deaths. However, independent counts by Mediazona and BBC News Russia suggest the true number of Russian military fatalities is also around 100,000, based on publicly available information.

As the war grinds on, the return of soldiers’ remains offers grieving families a measure of closure, but also serves as a stark reminder of the immense human toll. The continued exchanges of fallen servicemen and prisoners of war remain rare moments of cooperation amid a landscape otherwise defined by hostility and loss.

The human tragedy behind these numbers is immense.

Each exchange represents hundreds of families mourning loved ones lost to a conflict with no clear end in sight. The ongoing repatriation efforts, while essential for the dignity of the dead and the solace of the living, underscore the profound sadness and devastation wrought by the war.

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Tags: Russia, Ukraine, soldier exchange, war casualties, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Sumy, prisoner exchange, Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian invasion, military deaths, repatriation, human cost, Mediazona, BBC News Russia