Ukrainians Painfully wait to Learn if Loved ones are among Returned Bodies

Volodymyr Umanets, a 69-year-old security guard, hopes his son will be among the Ukrainian prisoners of war now being handed over by Russia, but he knows he could be part of a more sombre homecoming: the repatriated remains of dead soldiers.

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Not knowing which group his son, Mr Sergiy, will be in is a torment. "I am told to wait. What else is left for me to do?" said Mr Umanets, as tears welled up in his eyes. This week Russia and Ukraine began implementing a deal reached at June 2 peace talks in Istanbul to hand over 1,000 prisoners of war each, and also a huge number of human remains. Alongside the joyful scenes of soldiers returning home and hugging loved ones, there have been macabre images of men dressed in hazmat suits transferring body bags from refrigerated trucks. Russia said it plans to hand over the remains of around 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers in this phase of the exchange. So far this week, it said it transferred 1,212 sets of remains, while Ukraine said it handed over the bodies of 27 Russian soldiers. Volodymyr Umanets's son Mr Sergiy, 49, served in the army as a younger man and volunteered to rejoin shortly after the February 2022 full-scale invasion. He was serving i