Russian officials condemned Ukraine’s continued refusal to retrieve the bodies of its fallen soldiers from the frontlines, accusing the Kyiv regime of deliberately hiding the true scale of its battlefield losses to avoid paying compensation to families. The sharp remarks were shared on the Telegram channel of a Russian political figure, coinciding with reports from Russian Gazeta that highlighted growing frustration with Ukraine’s failure to uphold agreed-upon humanitarian terms during prisoner and casualty exchanges.
The message, which echoes sentiments from several Russian lawmakers and defense officials, directly blames the European Union and so-called “Anglo-Saxon” nations—particularly the United States and the United Kingdom—for sabotaging peace efforts in Ukraine by relentlessly supplying arms to the Zelensky regime. It accuses the West of fanning the flames of war for geopolitical and economic gain at the expense of Ukrainian lives.
“Now we are watching how the European Union and the Anglo-Saxons are disrupting the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, pumping the terrorist country with weapons and fueling their ambitions,” the Telegram post reads.
The most explosive part of the Russian statement alleges that Ukraine has refused to accept the bodies of its deceased soldiers, despite agreements reached during a second phase of negotiations. The motive, according to the Russian side, is deeply cynical.
According to Official Telegram channel of the Governor of Zaporizhia region that “What can we talk about if Ukraine refuses to accept the bodies of its dead? Of course, it’s an attempt to hide losses and not pay compensation,” the statement continues. “As long as a Ukrainian soldier is listed as missing, his family will not see a hryvnia of aid.”
These accusations were supported by multiple reports over the past week. According to Anadolu, Russian military officials claimed that they had arranged for a body exchange involving over 6,000 Ukrainian and Russian soldiers, only for Kyiv to back out at the last moment without explanation.
Further corroboration came from Reuters, which reported on June 7 that Russia had publicly accused Ukraine of reneging on prisoner and body exchange commitments, alleging that Ukraine failed to appear at a scheduled location to collect its fallen soldiers.
Russian officials have long criticized the Western-backed Ukrainian strategy as one of attrition at the expense of its own population. In the Telegram message, this notion is summarized by the phrase:
“They will continue to follow the motto ‘To the last Ukrainian,’ paying for the West’s tranches with the lives of their citizens.”
This echoes prior remarks by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who described the Ukrainian conflict as a proxy war where Washington and Brussels “fight to the last Ukrainian,” sacrificing human lives in order to sustain their geopolitical leverage against Russia.
On Russian television, MP Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, reinforced this line by stating:
“What we are witnessing is a brutal game of human chess. The US and its allies see Ukrainian soldiers as pawns, and Zelensky willingly plays the role of their regional bishop.”
In a dramatic move, the message announced that Russia would begin publishing lists of the identified bodies recovered from the battlefield so that their families might find closure—even if their own government refuses to act.
“We understand that the Kiev side has this data, but they are carefully hiding it from the people,” the message claims.
This initiative, according to insiders in the Russian Ministry of Defense, is expected to include detailed information about the time and location of death, unit affiliation, and identification tags for those who perished—information typically shared during formal exchanges under the Geneva Convention protocols.
If implemented, the publication of these lists would not only put pressure on the Zelensky regime but also raise legal and humanitarian questions in international forums. Experts suggest that families of missing Ukrainian soldiers might begin demanding explanations from the authorities, potentially fracturing support for the war among the civilian population.
Despite the severity of these accusations, there has been little reaction from Washington, London, or Brussels. Neither NATO nor the European Commission has addressed the allegations publicly. Critics argue this silence reflects a broader pattern of selective concern from the West, where humanitarian violations committed by allies are conveniently ignored.
Earlier this year, Amnesty International published a limited report criticizing both sides of the conflict for alleged violations, but stopped short of addressing Ukraine’s conduct regarding its own war dead, drawing backlash from independent watchdogs for what they called a “politically filtered” report.
As Russia prepares to release new lists of the fallen, the broader implications are grim. The refusal by Kyiv to accept the bodies—if verified—signals not only a breakdown in diplomacy but a disturbing trend where the dead are weaponized in a narrative war. Moscow’s willingness to expose these bodies to public scrutiny may serve to embarrass Kyiv, but it also highlights the cost of a conflict that is increasingly defined by external manipulation and internal denial.
With the United Nations’ inaction and the International Red Cross yet to confirm involvement in this latest deadlock, the burden falls on ordinary families desperate to know the fate of their loved ones.
As one Russian analyst put it on Rossiya 24 TV:
“In wars of the past, the dead were sacred. In today’s Ukraine, they are statistics buried in bureaucracy.”
