The bodies of 757 fallen defenders have been repatriated to Ukraine, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said on Friday.

"The defenders who have returned 'on the shield' include 451 from the Donetsk axis, 71 from the Bakhmut axis, 51 from the Vuhledar axis, 13 from the Luhansk axis, 137 from the Zaporizhia axis, and 34 deceased were repatriated from the morgues on the territory of Russia," it said on the Telegram channel.

The repatriation of the fallen defenders became possible due to joint efforts of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the Central Directorate for Civil and Military Cooperation of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), the Joint Center of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Interior Ministry of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, the Secretariat of the Commissioner for Persons Missing under Special Circumstances, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, and other defense and security agencies of Ukraine.

The Coordination HQ expressed particular gratitude to the International Committee for the Red Cross for its assistance, as well as the AFU personnel engaged in the transportation of the repatriated fallen fighters to the determined state specialized institutions, the transfer of the deceased to law enforcers of the Interior Ministry and forensic experts of the Health Ministry.

Law enforcers jointly with the Interior Ministry's expert institutions will carry out the procedures to identify the deceased as soon as possible.