The bodies of two Ukrainian soldiers were repatriated from Belgium on Tuesday morning. They are the second and third Ukrainian soldiers to have died in Belgium after being transferred for medical treatment. A brief ceremony was held at the military airport in Melsbroek.
Two coffins draped with Ukrainian flags were carried by Belgian soldiers in an A400M transport aircraft. Trumpet calls sounded and Ukrainian representatives laid flowers on the coffins. Defence minister Theo Francken, Chief of Defence Frederik Vansina and the Ukrainian ambassador to Belgium, Yaroslav Melnyk, were among those attending the ceremony.
The two soldiers are a 25-year-old and a 38-year-old identified as Oleksii and Serhii. No details about their injuries or the treatment they received in Belgium are being disclosed, in accordance with medical confidentiality and operational security.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Belgium has been accommodating Ukrainian military personnel and civilians who cannot be treated in their own country. The body of a drone pilot who died of his injuries in Belgium was repatriated on 12 September.