Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that Russia is deliberately complicating the process of repatriating the bodies of the dead by mixing the remains of its own soldiers with the bodies of Ukrainian defenders.
‘Russia is turning the repatriation of the bodies of the deceased into a tool of manipulation and pressure. The enemy is deliberately complicating identification for us, creating chaos, mixing the bodies of Russian soldiers with those of Ukrainians,’ said the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Klymenko gave a specific example — the body of a Russian soldier found among the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers.
Body No. 192/25. Dressed in a Russian Armed Forces uniform. Found on him: Russian passport, military ID, military service certificate No. 1252, excerpts from the order of the commander of military unit No. 52 dated 26 December 2023, dog tag with the inscription: ‘VS ROSSII MT-146004’.


The person has been identified as Alexander Viktorovich Bugayev, born in 1974, a serviceman of the 1st Battalion of the 39th Separate Guards Motorised Rifle Brigade of the Russian Federation (military unit No. 35390). His relatives began searching for him at the end of March after he disappeared in the Novomykhailivka area of Donetsk Oblast.
‘This is yet another proof of how Russia treats its people with contempt, throwing their bodies onto the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers. This shows how insignificant human life is for Russia. Or maybe it’s just a way to avoid paying compensation to families,’ added Klymenko.