Russia returns bodies of 541 fallen Ukrainian soldiers to Ukraine

Russia on Saturday repatriated the dead bodies of more than 500 fallen Ukrainian soldiers who laid down lives fighting in the conflict that was ordered by Russia's president Vladimir Putin on Feb 26. According to The Kyiv Independent, the majority of the bodies that have been handed over to Ukraine belonged to the soldiers from the Russian-controlled city of Mariupol that witnessed an intense battle between the Azov Regiment and the Russian armed forces. 

"Russia has returned bodies of 541 fallen Ukrainian soldiers to Ukraine," the Kyiv based newspaper tweeted on Saturday. 

"Oleg Kotenko, Ukraine's commissioner for missing persons in special circumstances, said that 428 bodies were brought from Mariupol, of which more than 300 were defenders of Azovstal," it added. 

Moscow plans full restoration of Mariupol

The development comes just weeks after Putin approved a master plan for the reconstruction of Mariupol. Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin presented to the head of the Russian Federation "a concept - a master plan for the development of the city of Mariupol" during a meeting on July 29, state-affiliated TASS reported. Khusnullin suggested the full restoration of Mariupol which he emphasized was conceivable within three years if a master plan is implemented.

As the war raged on, Ukraine's southern military command confirmed that Russia launched an air strike on the Antonovsky bridge in the Kherson region that rendered it uncrossable by heavy military vehicles. The damage by the Russian troops was inflicted on the southern side of the bridge and reportedly a pontoon ferry is still in operation. Russian forces on Saturday shot down a Ukrainian warplane over Donetsk in the eastern Donbas region that Putin's forces have been trying to  "liberate" by gaining full Russian control. They have also realigned their focus to gain Russian control over the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. The city was the target of heavy Russian fire in the early stages of the war, but Russian forces pulled back from the region in May.