MOSCOW, June 7. /TASS/. Kiev’s postponement of the process to receive the bodies of fallen soldiers reflects the true extent of the military disaster facing Ukraine and signals its unwillingness to acknowledge the scale of its losses, Russian Senator Andrey Klimov, Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs told TASS.
"The number of bodies of the deceased indicates the actual scale of the catastrophe for Kiev, which is precisely why they refuse to accept them," the senator said.
He also noted that this figure stands in stark contrast to the casualty numbers publicly cited by Vladimir Zelensky. According to Klimov, the discrepancy, combined with recent statements made by US President Donald Trump regarding Ukraine, is generating anxiety and panic within Kiev’s leadership.
Earlier, Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation in negotiations with the Ukrainian side and aide to the Russian president, stated that "on June 6, in strict accordance with the Istanbul agreements, the Russian side initiated a humanitarian action to transfer over 6,000 bodies of deceased Ukrainian servicemen to Ukraine, along with the exchange of wounded and seriously ill prisoners of war, as well as prisoners of war under the age of 25." However, Medinsky noted that "the Ukrainian side unexpectedly postponed both the reception of the bodies and the prisoner exchange for an indefinite period.".