Bodies of Soldiers Killed Defending Mariupol Are Returned to Ukraine.

The remains of dozens of bodies of Ukrainian service members killed in the battle for the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol have been returned to Ukraine and have begun arriving in Kyiv, the Ukrainian government announced on Tuesday.

Many of the dead fighters were members of the Azov regiment, which led the defense of the city for months under relentless Russian attack from ground, sea and air until their surrender in May.

Ukraine’s Ministry for Reintegration of Occupied Territories over the weekend announced the first officially confirmed exchange of war dead since the conflict began. It said the two sides had exchanged a total of 320 bodies, each getting back 160 sets of remains. It gave no details on where the bodies were recovered from. Read more

@nytimes