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Russia Returned 1,000 Bodies To Ukraine
Russia on Thursday returned 1,000 bodies to Ukraine, which Moscow said were the remains of Kyiv’s soldiers killed in battle, a Ukrainian government agency said.
Moscow later confirmed the exchange, saying it had received 31 bodies from Kyiv.
The exchange of prisoners of war and the remains of dead soldiers is one of the few remaining areas of cooperation between Kyiv and Moscow, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
“Repatriation measures took place today,” Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War announced on social media.
“One thousand bodies, which according to the Russian side belong to Ukrainian servicemen, were returned to Ukraine,” the agency added.
Ukraine has said that Moscow handed over to Kyiv the bodies of Russian soldiers during previous repatriations.
Kyiv also announced in September, August and July that it had received the remains of 1,000 soldiers from Russia, illustrating the intensity of fighting across the sprawling front line.
The Coordination Headquarters said law enforcement would soon begin the process of identifying the repatriated remains. It thanked the International Committee of the Red Cross for its role in the repatriation.
Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed on both sides since Russia invaded, though neither side regularly publishes data on their own casualties.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in February this year told US media that Ukraine has lost more than 46,000 soldiers and that tens of thousands were considered missing in action.
The BBC and independent outlet Mediazona say they have documented more than 135,000 Russian soldiers killed in the three-and-a-half-year campaign, using open-source data. They say the actual number likely higher.
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Breaking: Nigerian Workers Demand N300,000 Minimum Wage, FG Faces Fresh Salary Pressure
The Federal Workers Forum, FWF, has demanded an immediate increase in the federal minimum wage from N70,000 to N300,000, noting that the current salary structure can no longer sustain civil servants amid Nigeria’s rising cost of living.
The Forum made the demand in a letter dated September 2, 2026, addressed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Assembly, with the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Justice of Nigeria and Head of the Civil Service of the Federation listed among the recipients.
The workers also proposed a new salary structure that would place the highest-paid Level 17 officer on a monthly salary of N1.5 million, while Level 1 Step 1 workers would earn N300,000.
“We call for justice and immediate wage review now, adjust the federal minimum wage to N300,000 and a maximum wage of N1.5m for the Level 17 officers,” the Forum said.
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The FWF argued that the Federal Government had not fully implemented the 2024 minimum wage agreement, claiming that federal workers had yet to receive the full consequential adjustment and associated allowances.
“It will surprise you to hear that the Federal Government has not fully implemented the new national minimum wage since July 2024. We have been in the battle for full consequential adjustment of the new minimum wage,” it said.
Recall that the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, in August 2026, demanded an upward review of the minimum wage to N500,000.
In July 2024, President Bola Tinubu’s government increased the minimum wage to N70,000 per month from N30,000.
However, the cost of living for many Nigerians has tripled between 2024 and 2026.
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The Federal Government has said Nigeria will never support a military coup or any unconstitutional change of government, following claims that the country backed a failed coup attempt in the Niger Republic.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sola Enikanolaiye, made this known in a statement issued on Thursday.
According to the statement, the claims circulating on social media are baseless and misleading.
Enikanolaiye said Nigeria remained committed to democracy, constitutional rule and political stability in West Africa and would not support any attempt to remove a government through unconstitutional means.
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“Nigeria will never support illegality or unconstitutional change of government anywhere, no matter who is involved or which country is concerned,” he said.
The minister also rejected claims that Nigeria, through its membership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), supported or endorsed the military takeover in Niger.
He said the Federal Government had already stated its position on the situation in Niger in an earlier statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on August 30, 2026.
According to him, Nigeria remains deeply concerned about developments in Niger and wants the country to return peacefully to stability and constitutional order.
Enikanolaiye said Nigeria’s close historical, cultural and fraternal ties with Niger made peace and stability in the neighbouring country particularly important.
“Nigerians at home and abroad should disregard the videos and narratives circulating online, they are intended to create confusion and tarnish Nigeria’s image,” the statement said.
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