On July 14, 2025, Ukraine received from Russia the bodies of another 1200 Ukrainian servicemen killed in the conflict, the Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported on its Telegram channel. This is the second stage of repatriation in the last two days, as part of which Moscow handed over a similar number of bodies to Kyiv on July 13. In total, since the implementation of the agreement reached in Istanbul on June 2, Ukraine has returned more than 2600 bodies of its servicemen, while Russia has received 27 bodies of its soldiers, according to sources including Reuters and Al Jazeera.

"Today, within the framework of the agreements reached in Istanbul, the next stage of repatriation activities took place. According to the Russian side, the transferred bodies belong to Ukrainian citizens, mainly military personnel," — the Coordination Headquarters said in a statement.

In the near future, specialists will begin conducting forensic examinations to identify the remains. Representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Emergency Service, and the International Committee of the Red Cross participated in the operation. Some of the trucks involved in the transportation were marked with the emblems of the Ukrainian organization "On the Shield", which is engaged in the evacuation of deceased servicemen.

The Istanbul deal calls for the exchange of up to 6 bodies from each side, as well as the repatriation of seriously wounded prisoners of war and servicemen under 25. According to Russian spokesman Vladimir Medinsky, the exchange of seriously wounded began on July 12, and the process of identifying bodies continues despite difficulties. Russia has previously accused Ukraine of delaying the process, claiming that the first 1200 bodies had been waiting for five days at the border. Kyiv, for its part, has denied the accusations, saying the date of the transfer had not been agreed upon and calling on Moscow to stop “information games.”