June 14 (UPI) -- Russia and Ukraine exchanged an unreported number of prisoners of war on Saturday during the fourth such exchange during the week.
Ukraine also received the bodies of 1,200 dead civilians and military personnel from Russia.
The bodies are in addition to 2,412 that were sent to Ukraine on Wednesday and Friday and are being released per agreements reached during recent negotiations in Istanbul, the Kyiv Independent reported.
"The remains will now undergo forensic examination and identification procedures conducted by law enforcement investigators in cooperation with expert institutions under the [Ukrainian] Interior Ministry," officials for the Coordination Headquarters Prisoners of War said in a prepared statement.
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Identifying the bodies enables respective Ukrainian families to recover them for burial.
Ukrainian and Russian officials agreed to exchange the bodies of 6,000 soldiers and civilians for each side for a total exchange of 12,000 bodies.
Although the two nations agreed to exchange bodies, Russian officials said Ukraine did not return 1,200 bodies during Saturday's exchange.
Russia and Ukraine are also exchanging prisoners of war who need medical care.
Ukraine has transferred wounded Russian soldiers who have been captured, including many who were transferred directly from the frontlines.
As cease-fire negotiations continue to end the war that began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has continued to strike Ukraine with drone attacks.
Russia is on pace to strike Ukraine with nearly 7,000 drones, which would exceed the record number of 4,198 drones launched against Ukrainian military and civilian targets in March.
"This is terrorism against the civilian population aimed to create a series of doom, war-weariness and to put pressure on the [Ukrainian] authorities," Liveuamap co-founder Rodion Rozhkovskiy told the Kyiv Independent.
While the war in Ukraine and related negotiations continue in Istanbul, Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Donald Trump on Saturday to wish him a happy birthday and discuss matters in Iran during the one-hour call.
"We talked at length," Trump said in a White House statement issued after the phone call ended.
"Much less time was spent talking about Russia/Ukraine, but that will be for next week," Trump said.
He said Putin knows Iran "very well" and agreed the war between Israel and Iran should end.
Trump said he told Putin, "his war should also end" in Ukraine.
The president did not offer more details on his conversation with Putin.
Russian forces on Friday captured the Ukrainian village of Yablunivka, which is located in northeastern Ukraine and about 5 miles from the border between the two nations, Russian officials announced on Saturday.
Russian forces also reportedly captured the villages of Koptevo and Komar in the eastern Donetsk region in Ukraine and six in total over the past week.
