RUSSIA handed over 20 bodies it claimed were Ukrainian defenders – but they were actually its own dead troops, says Zelensky.

It comes as Russian ally Belarus freed its top jailed opposition leader and other political prisoners – after Trump’s envoy met the ex-Soviet state’s iron-fisted leader.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed Russia’s grim body-swap blunder on Saturday, as reported by Ukrainska Pravda.

He said: “They (Russia) told us these were only Ukrainians and only service members.

“But that’s a lie, now documented. In some cases, these bodies even have Russian passports on them.

“They can’t even check who they’re sending. We certainly want all of our warriors and the bodies of our heroes back.

“But we definitely do not want Russians being handed over simply for the sake of quantity.”

Russia and Ukraine have regularly swapped prisoners of war and traded bodies of fallen soldiers throughout the conflict.

Both sides exchanged at least 1,200 POWs over a week ago after the second round of direct talks in Istanbul.

Meanwhile, Sergei Tikhanovsky, a major Belarusian opposition leader, was freed from jail along with 13 other political prisoners on Saturday.

His release came after US special envoy Keith Kellogg met with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in the country’s capital, Minsk.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya – who is Tikhanovsky’s wife and also a Belarusian opposition politician herself – publicly thanked Donald Trump, Kellogg and “all European allies” for securing her husband’s release.

Tikhanovskaya wrote on X: “My husband … is free! It’s hard to describe the joy in my heart.”

She added: “We’re not done. 1150 political prisoners remain behind bars. All must be released.”

Five Belarusian nationals, along with Japanese, Polish and Swedish citizens, were also released, according to Tikhanovskaya’s office.

Lukashenko’s press secretary said the prisoners were freed at Trump’s request.

The Lithuanian foreign minister said on X that the 14 political prisoners were receiving care in Lithuania.

Tikhanovsky planned to run in the 2020 Belarusian presidential election but was arrested months before.

He was sentenced to 18 years in 2021 on charges of organising mass unrest and inciting social hatred.

Tikhanovskaya ran in his place and claimed victory but fled into exile with their kids the day after.

Many Belarusians believe the 2020 election was rigged by Lukashenko’s regime to keep him in power – a position he’s held for nearly three decades.

Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians have fled their homeland since the brutal crackdown on opposition protests in 2020.

Tens of thousands have been arrested in Belarus for political reasons over the past five years, says rights group Viasna.

Belarus has faced heavy Western sanctions for its brutal crackdown and backing Russia’s war – letting Russian troops use its land and hosting tactical nukes as part of their alliance.

It comes as Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko signed a security agreement in December, finalising the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear arms in Belarus.

The signing followed an amendment in Russia’s nuclear doctrine, which for the first time placed Belarus under the Russian nuclear umbrella.

It effectively gives Lukashenko control over the potential use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons deployed to Belarus in response to aggression.

Putin said in a televised remark: “I’m sure that the treaty will ensure the security of Russia and Belarus.”

After the two leaders signed the pact, Lukashenko asked Putin to deploy the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) that Russia used for the first time in November against Ukraine.