English Section

Identifying the heroes: audio report

10.06.2022 15:30
Under exchange procedures, Ukraine has been receiving the dead bodies of soldiers who had defended the strategic southern port city of Mariupol.
Audio
A priest swings a censer at the coffins with the bodies of nine servicemen who perished in a Russian missile attack in Zaporizhzhia Region, during a farewell ceremony in Vinnytsia, central Ukraine, in May, 2022.
A priest swings a censer at the coffins with the bodies of nine servicemen who perished in a Russian missile attack in Zaporizhzhia Region, during a farewell ceremony in Vinnytsia, central Ukraine, in May, 2022. PAP/UKRINFORM/Oleksandr Lapin

210 bodies of dead defenders of Mariupol have already been returned to Ukraine. Most of these soldiers had fought the Russian invaders at the Azovstal steel plant, according to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence. 

This agency now coordinates the exchange of prisoners of war and the return of the bodies of fallen soldiers. 

“All the dead must return to the territory controlled by Ukraine. And each of them is sent to his final destination with honours due to the heroes,” officials said. 

Work is also under way to return all captured Ukrainian defenders home.

Radio Poland’s Halyna Pastushuk has this report. 

Click on the audio player above to listen.