Through unofficial negotiations between the two sides, mediated by civilians, the exchange would have been agreed: six Russian bodies for two living Ukrainian soldiers.
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Six bodies lie under the ruins of a village on the outskirts of Kyiv Fallen Russian soldiers were exchanged for two Ukrainian prisoners of war in a rare case of unofficial exchanges between the armies of Kyiv and Moscow. The news was reported by the Ukrainian newspaper Kyiv Independent, emphasizing that it is a Agreement between the parties at local level in an area where the close clashes between the two armies were so dramatic that dozens of bodies of unburied soldiers still lie on the battlefields, reporters on the Sydney Morning Herald field confirmed. It is the area near the city of Rusaniv, east of Kyiv, where fighting has been going on for days to seize the access roads to the Ukrainian capital and where the Russian victims are now only buried in mass graves in the middle of the fields.
According to the Ukrainian newspaper, the six dead Russian soldiers were part of a battle group sent near Rusaniv, some 40 kilometers east of Kyiv, to protect a bridge later blown up by the Ukrainians. I am ambushed by Kiev troops and left there for days. According to an agreement between the two sides, the Ukrainian emergency services were instructed to collect the bodies of the dead soldiers. A dramatic and difficult task as the already decomposing corpses have to be taken from the battlefield and hauled to the other side by boats due to the collapse of the bridge. On the other hand, they will be handed over to local Red Cross members for return. Through negotiations between the two sides and mediated by civilians, the exchange was agreed: six Russian bodies for two living Ukrainian soldiers held captive after recent fighting in the area.
However, the Russian military had insignia of the 21st Mechanized Brigade of the Moscow Armed Forces it appears that no one had identification papers with them. The choice could be dictated by the fact that Kyiv has often used documents found on dead Russian military personnel to make propaganda. “Before the attack, they simply took his ID cards. No badge, no dog tag, nothing. We don’t understand why,” Ukrainian soldiers say. However, some of the victims were identified by other items found on them or at the scene of the battle, such as maps and other items.