Ukrainian Interior Minister: Russia deliberately complicating process of identifying bodies of the dead

The Russian Federation is deliberately complicating the process of identifying the bodies of the dead by returning them in a mutilated state, and during the latest repatriations, the bodies of Russian soldiers were also handed over to Ukraine - mixed with the bodies of Ukrainians, said head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ihor Klymenko.

"After each repatriation, painstaking work begins: an autopsy, a thorough examination by an investigator, DNA testing, checking every detail. This process is already complicated and lengthy. And Russia is deliberately complicating the identification process for us," the Minister of Internal Affairs wrote on the Telegram channel on Monday.

He noted: "The bodies are returned in an extremely mutilated state, body parts in different bags. There are cases when the remains of one person are returned even during different stages of repatriation."

According to Klymenko, during the latest repatriations, the bodies of Russian soldiers were also handed over to Ukraine, mixed with the bodies of Ukrainians.

"Unfortunately, this is a fact. This could have been done by the Russians intentionally, in order to increase the number of bodies handed over and to keep our experts busy, supplementing all this with cynical information pressure. Or it could be their usual negligent attitude towards their own people," he emphasized.

At the same time, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs assured that in any case, these bodies will also be identified.

"Our experts are working on the edge of what is possible. Each examination is carried out thoroughly and more than once. The specialists are trained, the laboratories are equipped, the processes are worked out. The biggest challenge is time," Klymenko added.

The minister assured that the identification process is being accelerated as much as possible, but with each large repatriation it becomes more difficult.

"We understand the pain and expectations of the families ... We have no right to make mistakes. For us, these are not statistics. These are people, and each of them deserves to be treated with dignity.