Identification of bodies of fallen defenders may take 13-14 months: Ministry of Internal Affairs

The complete identification of about 6,000 bodies of dead Ukrainian defenders, which were handed over by the Russian side, may take at least 13-14 months. About this stated Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko on the telethon.

According to the minister, the total number of bodies handed over by Russia is 6,060.

“I can only roughly assess the situation, because the analysis is still ongoing – in what condition are the remains and how many of them are actually contained in the packages that the Russian side handed over to us. But, according to the most modest preliminary estimates of our experts, it will take at least 13-14 months to identify these approximately 6,000 bodies.”Klymenko noted.

He emphasized that this is the minimum time required to complete the identification. Currently, all specialized services are involved in the work on identification – forensic medical experts, investigators and expert units, which work in three shifts to speed up the process.

In addition, the minister reported that during the last exchanges of bodies, the Russian side handed over the bodies of its own servicemen along with the bodies of dead Ukrainians:

“During the last repatriations, the bodies of Russian soldiers were also handed over to us – mixed with the bodies of Ukrainians. Unfortunately, this is a fact. This could have been done by the Russians on purpose in order to increase the number of bodies handed over and burden our experts with work, supplementing all this with cynical informational pressure. Or it could be their usual careless attitude towards their own people. In any case, we also identify these bodies.”