LUGANSK, December 1./TASS/. The bodies of LPR soldiers handed over during an exchange by the Ukrainian side, bear numerous signs of torture, a division head at the Lugansk republic’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Kseniya Makarova, said on Thursday.

"We have received a large number of [bodies] of servicemen for examination, and they have multiple injuries, wounds, bruises, the nature of which leads us to conclude that they were inflicted repeatedly over a long period of time," she told a briefing.

According to Makarova, some of the dead soldiers from the Lugansk People’s Republic could have survived if they had received timely medical treatment. "Multiple bruises and traces of thermal effects suggest that the [LPR servicemen] were tortured. Torture and multiple injuries were inflicted, maybe to obtain information, maybe for some other purpose," Makarova said.

On Tuesday, LPR ombudsperson Viktoria Serdyukova reported that information about torture and moral pressure on the republic’s military in Ukrainian captivity would be forwarded to the appropriate authorities and international organizations.