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Body swap and sanctions mark 29 January 2026
Summary
A repatriation of remains and an EU money-laundering listing came amid continuing Russian strikes on Ukrainian regions.
What did the war look like on 29 January 2026? It combined a rare humanitarian exchange, a new financial measure against Russia and the aftermath of deadly strikes.
On that day, Russia and Ukraine carried out a swap of bodies. Russia received the remains of 38 soldiers, while Ukraine received the remains of 1,000 soldiers. It was the first such swap since November 2025.
The same day, the European Union blacklisted Russia over a risk of money laundering. The step fell within the wider framework of international sanctions imposed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and affected Russia–European Union relations.
Strikes in the preceding days
The exchange followed several days of Russian attacks. On 28 January 2026, overnight Russian strikes on the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa oblasts killed three people and injured three others.
A day earlier, on 27 January 2026, a Russian drone strike on a passenger train in Kharkiv Oblast killed at least five people and injured two others.
Taken together, the events of those three days showed the war continuing on several tracks at once: attacks on civilian areas and transport, a financial measure by the EU, and a limited exchange of the dead between the two sides.
