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Sweden conducts full-scale mortuary drill as part of Aurora 26 military exercise

Sweden's armed forces conducted a full-scale exercise to practice the logistics of burying fallen soldiers during the Aurora 26 military exercise. This drill, which ran from late April to mid-May 2026, involved approximately 18,000 troops from 13 nations. The exercise featured a mortuary affairs component using more than 500 mannequins and body bags to represent fallen service members, a scale of drill not attempted in Sweden since the early 1950s. More than 300 military personnel participated in the drill alongside the Church of Sweden, the Swedish Tax Agency, and the country's conscription agency. The exercise tested the full chain of handling war dead, including recovery, identification, notification of allied embassies and the International Committee of the Red Cross, and burial with military honours. Officials framed the planning as a matter of morale and institutional readiness rather than a prediction of specific casualties. The drill is part of a broader shift by Sweden toward total defence planning since joining NATO in 2024.

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