Ukraine asks Red Cross to repatriate bodies of Russian soldiers killed in fighting

Authored by timesofisrael.com and submitted by icedpickles
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The International Committee of the Red Cross says it is aware of requests by Ukraine’s UN ambassador and others to repatriate the bodies of Russian soldiers killed in action in Ukraine but has no numbers.

Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya tweeted Saturday that Ukraine has appealed to the ICRC “to facilitate repatriation of thousands of bodies of Russian soldiers” killed during its invasion of Ukraine. An accompanying chart claimed 3,500 Russian troops have been killed.

Kyslytsya tweeted that parents in Russia should have a chance “to bury them with dignity.”

“Don’t let Putin hide scale of tragedy,” he said.

Laetitia Courtois, ICRC’s permanent observer to the United Nations says that the current security situation “is a primary concern and a limitation for our teams on the ground” and “we therefore cannot confirm numbers or other details.”

She says “the ICRC can act as a neutral intermediary” on the return of bodies and other humanitarian issues in conflict, including clarifying the fate of missing persons, reuniting families, and advocating for the protection of detainees “within its possibilities.”

bo_in_bay on February 27th, 2022 at 06:06 UTC »

This is both an empathic human gesture AND a strategic move to counter propaganda & convey the reality of this invasion to Russian citizens.

Bonus_mosher on February 27th, 2022 at 05:07 UTC »

This is amazing. A lot of these troops were conscripted teenagers. They had no skin in this fight until they did. Let their families bury them, and let it fuel the Russian populations rage against their authoritarian state.

randomguyfromafrica on February 27th, 2022 at 05:04 UTC »

Even in war they show more dignity than Putin