On June 16, 2025, Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a grim warning: Russia is allegedly handing over the bodies of its own soldiers, falsely identifying them as fallen Ukrainian troops. According to Ukrainian officials, this disturbing tactic serves multiple political and economic goals—none of which involve respect for the dead.
A Distorted Body Count
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry claims that these actions are part of a deliberate campaign to inflate the number of Ukrainian military casualties. By manipulating body counts, the Kremlin seeks to undermine morale in Ukrainian society and paint a bleaker picture of Ukraine’s losses on the battlefield.
Moreover, Ukrainian forensic experts are overwhelmed, forced to run costly and time-consuming DNA tests to identify these remains. In reality, many of the bodies belong to Russian soldiers, making this not only a deception, but also an economic burden placed on Ukraine under the guise of humanitarian procedure.
A Budget Scheme Disguised as Diplomacy
Beyond propaganda, officials suggest a more cynical motive: cutting costs on the home front. When a Russian soldier is declared “missing” rather than dead, the government avoids paying the standard “coffin compensations” to families. By offloading these bodies and misidentifying them, Moscow sidesteps its financial responsibilities to its own citizens.
The Human Cost of a Lie
This isn’t the first time the Kremlin has been accused of disregarding its dead. After the failed uprising by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group, many of the group’s mercenaries were buried in unmarked graves, with cemeteries later destroyed or paved over—an attempt to erase their existence from public memory.
This pattern reveals a chilling reality: in today’s Russia, even death does not free one from the machinery of state manipulation. Once fallen, soldiers become “biomaterial” for propaganda, used to provoke, deceive, and profit.
Propaganda Disguised as Morality
In domestic media, the Russian government often presents itself as the “morally superior” side in the war, emphasizing the “honor” of returning enemy bodies while accusing Ukraine of disrespect. Yet these claims have been consistently debunked. In truth, the Kremlin’s narratives are weaponized to sustain domestic support, not to honor humanitarian values.
As official data from Russia becomes increasingly questionable, Ukrainian authorities urge both domestic and international audiences to scrutinize every so-called “fact” presented by the Russian state. When a regime manipulates even the dead, it casts doubt on all else.
A Nation That Forgets Its Own
What emerges is a picture of a regime that has abandoned not just its people, but its principles. The disregard for Russian lives—both living and dead—exposes the hollowness of patriotic rhetoric. Soldiers are no longer seen as heroes or protectors; in the eyes of the state, they are tools for narrative control, costs to be minimized, and symbols to be erased when no longer useful.
This transformation of death into policy is not just a political move—it reflects a deep moral erosion within the Russian state. It’s not only about manipulated numbers or dodged payments; it’s about the systematic erasure of dignity, memory, and truth.
