Human rights activist Lyudmyla Denisova shared the information on Espreso TV."Repatriation is a very difficult topic, and we don't talk about it much. This is because it is a very sensitive issue, and everyone who has a missing relative in their family hopes that their loved ones will return alive and well. Today, there are more than 70,000 such people. Unfortunately, there are cases when the bodies of deceased Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen are returned to Ukraine. Repatriation is the return of the bodies of deceased Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen who died during combat operations or as a result of war. This may include captivity and shelling. This issue is regulated by international humanitarian law. The Geneva Convention and its Additional Protocols III and IV oblige the parties to an armed conflict to respect the bodies of the dead, transfer them, or bury them properly. However, the Russian state does not always comply with these rules," Denisova said.The human rights activist emphasized that today, the transfer of the bodies of deceased servicemen takes place through agreements and exchanges between the parties, and can also take place through the mediation of international organizations."In practice, repatriation is carried out through exchanges and agreements and can be carried out through the mediation of humanitarian organizations. Regarding the number of bodies of deceased Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen returned, it can be said that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, 74 repatriations of bodies had been carried out as of February 2025. A total of 7,017 bodies of deceased Ukrainian soldiers have been returned. We remember all the agreements in Istanbul on the exchange of 6,000 for 6,000 bodies of deceased servicemen. This exchange took place. On June 16, Ukraine received another 6,057 bodies. In total, 15,801 bodies of deceased Ukrainian soldiers were returned to Ukraine. This means that there is still work to be done with Russia and that we must demand the return of the bodies of our soldiers. The way in which the bodies of our soldiers are handed over is simply horrific and impossible to put into words," she said.On Monday, June 16, Ukraine and Russia completed the final stage of a body exchange under the Istanbul agreements. Ukraine received 1,245 bodies, including fallen soldiers.During the latest repatriations, Russia, along with the bodies of fallen Ukrainian defenders, also transferred the bodies of its own soldiers to Ukraine. This was likely done intentionally.On June 18, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko confirmed that Ukraine had received more than 6,000 bodies, but that some of them were those of occupiers. It will take up to 14 months to identify the bodies received during repatriation. After that, Ukraine will return the bodies of the occupiers to Russia for burial.