Ukraine has received the bodies of 1,212 soldiers killed in the war with Russia, officials in Kyiv said. “As a result of the repatriation activities,” Kyiv’s prisoner exchange coordination committee said on Telegram, “the bodies of 1,212 fallen defenders have been returned to Ukraine.”

It released photos showing personnel of the International Committee of the Red Cross at an undisclosed location, walking past several refrigerated trucks bringing the bodies from Russia.

This came as a top lawmaker in Kyiv warned that cuts to US aid for Ukraine in the Trump administration’s forthcoming defence budget would lead to more casualties for the war-hit nation.

Oleksandr Merezhko, head of Ukraine’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, said cuts would play into Russia’s hands.

“Such a reduction will lead to more casualties on the Ukrainian side, including casualties among civilian population,” he told Newsweek.

“Anyone in the US who is acting in support of the reduction of the military aid to Ukraine becomes morally responsible for the increased casualties among civilians.”