War is hell. There doesn’t seem to be much doubt about that.

In today’s more “civilized” societies, however, even war has its rules, such as the humane treatment of civilians and prisoners of war.

But as we all know, there are those nations’ leaders who refuse to be bound by any constraints, or who simply deny that they are guilty of any infractions and continue on their merry way . . . intentionally targeting hospitals, schools, homes, and places of business; raping, torturing and killing civilians; and kidnapping children for “rehoming” and “reeducation.”

And just when we think humanity has sunk as low as it can possibly go, Vladimir Putin has come up with yet another horror to inflict on the victims of his war against Ukraine. In the course of an agreed-upon exchange of the remains of Russian and Ukrainian casualties, he has been sending back to Ukraine the mutilated and mixed-up body parts of their loved ones . . . and some that don’t even belong to them.

Two peace talks in Istanbul on May 16 and June 2 failed to result in the hoped-for ceasefire or a path to peace. But one positive outcome was an agreement on repatriations and prisoner exchanges, which have been underway since then. The last stage of a deal to return the remains of more than 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers was completed on June 16th, when Russia sent the final 1,245 bodies (or 1,248, according to Moscow’s figures) back to their homeland.

But Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko has reported in a post on Telegram that it was discovered during the complex process of identifying the remains —which involves autopsies, DNA testing, and other procedures — that:

“. . . Russia is also deliberately making the identification process difficult for us. Bodies are returned in an extremely mutilated state, parts of [the same] bodies in different bags. There are cases when the remains of one person are returned even during different stages of repatriation. In addition, during the latest repatriations, the bodies of Russian soldiers were also transferred to us — mixed with the bodies of Ukrainians.” [RFE/RL, June 16, 2025.]

A request by RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty for comment from Russian officials has gone unanswered. [Id.]

Klymenko added that Ukrainian specialists “are working at the limit of what is possible” to identify the remains, and that “the biggest challenge is time. We understand the pain and the expectations of families. We are accelerating the identification process as much as possible. But with each large repatriation, it becomes more difficult to do this, and perhaps this is precisely Russia’s goal.” [Id.]

Imagine, if you dare, that you are a Ukrainian parent, spouse, sibling, or lifelong friend of a missing soldier, and that you have just learned that your loved one may have been returned home in pieces, lost in a jumble of mixed-up body parts. Or that you are a Russian citizen, also awaiting the identification of a family member, and you think there is a possibility that his remains may have been sent to Ukraine by your own government.

One would hope that, at best, this new horror is the result of overwork, inefficiency, and stupidity on the part of the Russian officials in charge of their side of the repatriation operation. But, as Minister Klymenko suggested, it might just as easily have been intentional.

If it was, it is unforgivably cruel, malicious, and ghoulish. It may also be a violation of the Geneva Conventions . . . although for Putin, that would be just one more war crime on his record.

And to a person with no conscience, that’s not even worth thinking about.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/19/25