Day after Russia government led by President Vladimir Putin released over 1,212 bodies said to be dead Ukrainian soldiers, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a written and video press release on Thursday said that Ukraine has recorded over one million casualties of Russia soldiers, both dead and wounded inclusive.

There were reports that Ukraine initially refused to receive the bodies of the fallen heroes which thus left the drivers and the refrigerator trucks with the frozen bodies of the said Ukrainian soldiers to be stranded at the exchange site spending about 4 days waiting for the Ukrainian representatives to receive the body bags.

RT news media reported that Ukraine finally accepts the fallen soldiers’ bodies from Russia, quoting Russia’s top peace negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky as saying that Kiev has received 1,212 bodies so far; Russia receives 27 of its dead soldiers in return.

According to Zelenskyy: “Today, in year four of Russia’s full-scale war, our military has recorded over one million Russian casualties — killed and wounded. That’s the price Putin is willing to pay for his sick geopolitical fantasies. And still, he refuses to end this war.

12 days ago, Ukraine’s Security Service completed “SpiderWeb” — a low-cost drone operation targeting the very aircraft Russia used to terrorize our country and to send a message of threat to NATO. These were not just similar strategic bombers, but the exact same ones Russia had used to simulate missile strikes on NATO territory.

10 years ago, such a strike would have been unimaginable. Today, we can’t even imagine what kind of strikes a country might be able to carry out 10 years from now. But one principle is clear – no country can afford to stay behind in defense tech.

Russia doesn’t really care about the lives of a million of its own people. But they do care about harsh sanctions, especially on oil and finance, as well as about political isolation, when Moscow is not invited to international forums. If Russian oil sells for no more than $30 a barrel, suddenly Moscow will start sounding peaceful.

We must confront those who treat human life as worthless just as we defend our own safety. This fight isn’t limited to Europe, it matters in every region nearby. When life means nothing to those in charge, then no crime is off the table – not even full-scale aggression.

We thank Czechia for its initiative on ammunition supplies. It clearly showed that united efforts can really make a difference in modern warfare. We must strengthen all forms of defense cooperation, especially those that help us become more technologically advanced and use drones of every kind: in the air, on land, and at sea.

Ukraine is ready to increase drone production by 40% already this year. Our factories have the capacity. What we lack is financing. I urge your countries to treat drone production with the same urgency and attention that we do. We must all be faster in drones than our enemies.

We should be realistic about those who brought war to Europe. You can’t talk Russia into peace. But there are forms of pressure that hurt those in charge. I ask you to support a serious increase in sanctions against Russia.

We should remember that respect for human life is not just a moral value, it’s a security factor. Our joint policy must support those who value life – and restrict those who show contempt for it. This can only be done at the level of all Europe and the Euro-Atlantic community.

Only together we are strong enough to defend our way of life and life itself. I ask you to support decisions that do not leave behind European nations that deserve to be in the EU and NATO. This includes Ukraine, Moldova, Balkan nations. Everyone deserves fair decisions.

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, more than 113,000 Ukrainian warriors — from various branches of our Defense and Security Forces — have been awarded orders and medals, most of them specifically for participation in combat.

This is only a part of the heroism and resilience of Ukrainians that enable our nation to endure and defend our own interests. Not someone else’s, but Ukrainian interests. On our own Ukrainian land.

Today, I presented state awards — Crosses of Military Merit and Orders of the Golden Star — to our warriors, and handed over the orders to the families of Heroes who were conferred this title posthumously.

We must always speak with absolute honesty: without such warriors, there would be no Ukraine. We would not have our own independent state without families like these, who raise their sons and daughters with true respect for the duty to defend Ukraine, to stand by their brothers-in-arms, and to fight. Thank you. Glory to Ukraine!

Our people are coming home. Today, warriors of our Armed Forces, National Guard, and Border Guard Service are back home. They all require medical treatment, and they will certainly receive the care they need. This is already the second stage of bringing back severely wounded and seriously ill warriors.

We continue working to bring everyone home from Russian captivity. We thank everyone who helps make these exchanges possible — so that each and every one of them can be home, in Ukraine.

We had reported that the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that President Vladimir Putin led Russia government has set free first badge of Ukrainian prisoners in line with the agreement both countries reached at the last peace meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, adding that, the Russia war in Ukraine is still intense at Pokrovsk area of Sumy region.