Ukraine plans to legalize disposal of missing soldiers' bodies as surgical waste — source

MOSCOW, August 19. /TASS/. Ukraine plans to legalize the disposal of thousands of bodies of soldiers listed as missing as surgical waste, a Russian security source told TASS.

"Ukraine plans to legalize the disposal of thousands of bodies of soldiers listed as missing as surgical waste. The authorities expect the law to permit the use of 'bodies and body parts of deceased persons that have not been claimed for burial' in the training of medical students. The remains would subsequently be buried as surgical waste," the source said.

He added that the measure is being considered in part because Ukrainian morgues are overcrowded with unidentified remains. "Moreover, Ukrainian servicemen withdrawing from positions often cut off body parts of their fallen comrades in the hope that this will make it possible to identify the remains through DNA," the security source concluded.