Bodies of Ukrainian Soldiers Recovered From Ruins of Donetsk Airport

The task of recovering the bodies of both Ukrainian soldiers and pro-Russian separatists from Donetsk Airport, a point of strategic importance throughout the conflict, began after a ceasefire was called in east Ukraine in mid-February. Ukrainian forces retreated from Donetsk airport on January 22 following reports from a Ukrainian government-backed volunteer battalion that the airport was “lost”.

In the following footage, OSCE observers attend to recovery efforts at the airport. A Russian Lieutenant-General, Aleksander Lyentsov, acts as mediator in body exchanges between Ukrainian representatives and the separatists. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, separatist officials had estimated that at least 30 Ukrainian soldiers lay dead in the airport, of which seven had been recovered. Later footage, shot “the next evening” outside a morgue in separatist-held Donetsk, shows Ukrainian volunteers transferring 27 bodies of soldiers from one truck to another, overseen by Red Cross and separatist officials. Credit: RFE/RL and Voice of America