In graves located in Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, and Vladivostok, Russia, the bodies of 663 British military personnel rest. The majority lost their lives in the aftermath of the first world war, when allied troops were dispatched to support the right-wing White forces in the Russian civil war against the Bolsheviks. Additionally, 41 casualties from the second world war Arctic convoys are buried there.

For decades, these resting places have been cared for by the Russian military and private contractors, funded by the UK’s Commonwealth War Graves Commission. However, due to economic sanctions following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Britain was no longer able to pay for the maintenance of these graves.

Despite this, the commission has continued to tend to 674 Soviet graves in its cemeteries in the UK and around the world. It is believed that the Russians are reciprocating by maintaining the 663 British military graves.

Gareth Hardware, the commission’s area director for the UK and northern countries, stated, “We haven’t seen the graves, but we believe they are still being maintained. We are also maintaining their graves in our cemeteries.”

Officials from the commission, which is funded by Britain and other Commonwealth nations, believe that the Russian navy mainly tends to the graves, while a private contractor oversees plots in Arkhangelsk. “Although we are currently unable to pay him, we have written confirming we will do so when we can,” a spokesperson stated.

Last summer, an amateur Russian historian took photographs of the graves in Arkhangelsk, which appeared to be in good condition. The cemetery seemed well-maintained, even in these challenging times. A British diplomat from the embassy in Moscow also visited Murmansk on Remembrance Day last year and reported that the cemetery there was in good condition.

At a commission conference at the Royal United Services Institute in London, the Russians’ apparent respect for the British dead was welcomed. V Adm Peter Hudson, vice-chair of the commission, said, “It transcends even those very fraught national relationships which exist between our two countries today.”

Relations between London and Moscow have become strained. Earlier this month, Britain was labeled Russia’s public enemy number one after the country’s foreign intelligence service accused the UK of trying to hinder Donald Trump’s attempts at a peace deal.

John Foreman, who served as Britain’s defense attaché in Moscow from 2019 to 2022, argued for a formal agreement while he was there. However, it is even more difficult to address this issue in the Russian-occupied Crimea region of Ukraine, where British

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/global/2025/mar/23/russia-uk-agreement-to-tend-war-graves-transcends-bitter-international-relations