Ukraine says returned war dead contained hidden explosives, delaying identification work
Investigators in Ukraine say some bodies returned from the war have contained hidden explosives, forcing extra safety checks before identification work can begin. The issue is affecting the work of teams responsible for identifying the dead and returning them to families for burial. Officials say the problem has caused major delays in a process already under strain from the scale of the losses.
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Taras Tarasenko, deputy head of the investigative department at the Kirovohrad Region Police Department, said mandatory checks were now being carried out before any identification work. He said investigators first look for items that could pose a danger and added that such cases had happened more than once. According to his account, explosive objects, grenades and other dangerous items have been found in returned bodies.
The Kirovohrad centre handles the search for missing persons in special circumstances and the identification of unidentified bodies of servicemen. The supporting row says bodies of hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians arrive daily, with a team of 32 working around the clock to process them. That makes the safety issue operationally significant, because any delay affects both forensic work and the return of remains to relatives.
The allegations also add to a wider pattern of abuse claims linked to the war. The supporting material says other Ukrainians have previously been returned with missing internal organs and signs of torture, while Russia has also been accused of sending back its own dead in Ukrainian uniforms. Those claims, if confirmed, would deepen concerns about the treatment of the dead and the handling of remains during the conflict.
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Kirovohrad has become a key location in this process because it is home to the Centre for the Search for Missing Persons in Special Circumstances and the Identification of Unidentified Bodies of Servicemen. The centre's role reflects the scale of the task facing Ukrainian investigators as they try to identify the dead from the war. The work is not only forensic but also humanitarian, because families are waiting for confirmation and the return of remains.
What remains unclear from the available material is how many bodies were affected, when the explosives were discovered, and whether any investigators were injured. It is also not clear how the safety checks are being carried out in practice or whether the issue has changed the pace of repatriations. The immediate focus now is on continuing identification work safely while the bodies continue to arrive.
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