The Ukrainian government confirmed today that 64 more combatant troops defending the Azovstal steel complex in Mariupol have been returned to Kiev.

The news was confirmed by the Ministry for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories to the local Unian agency and to the Ukrinform portal. According to the ministry, “heroic defenders” will now be able to hold an “honorable burial” in their country.

Minister Oleh Kotenko also said that “the process of receiving the bodies of the soldiers continues” and that more bodies are expected to be received in the coming days.

On 8 June, the government confirmed that 210 bodies had been taken by the Ukrainian authorities. The next day, 58 more were sent to Kiev by the Russians.

The Azovstal steelworks complex was Ukraine’s last zone of resistance in the port city of Mariupol, which fell completely into Moscow’s hands on May 18. The number of fighters at the scene was unclear, and reports mention “dozens of bodies” without specifying how many died at the scene.

The defense of the city was carried out by both soldiers from the Ukrainian army and members of the far-right militia Azov Battalion, and on the 18th, about 960 fighters still there surrendered by order of the Kyiv government.

Mariupol was one of the most dramatic war scenarios, thousands of citizens trapped in the city could not escape the fighting. Estimates by the Ukrainian local government began to mention 20,000 civilians killed in conflict or due to a lack of basic survival resources such as food, water or medical treatment.

About 90% of the buildings in the city, where more than 400,000 people lived before the war, were destroyed, and it is estimated that around 100,000 Ukrainians now have to live under the leadership of Russian troops.