Ukraine searching for 60,000 missing persons: How many are in captivity in Russia
Illustrative photo: About 60,000 Ukrainians are considered missing (Getty Images)
About 60,000 Ukrainians are officially considered missing. Approximately one-sixth of them may be held in captivity in Russia, states the Commissioner for Missing Persons under Special Circumstances, Artur Dobroserdov, in an interview with Suspilne.
"More than 60,000 people are missing. There is confirmation that about 10,000 of them are in captivity. This includes both official confirmations — from the aggressor country via the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) — as well as unofficial ones," said Dobroserdov.
He clarified that unofficial sources of information include testimonies from those who have returned from captivity, as well as searches through OSINT (Open Source Intelligence). In particular, some Russian soldiers publish information online that confirms the fact of specific Ukrainians being held in captivity. This has already helped identify more than 1,500 missing persons.
At the same time, the official source of information is confirmation through the Red Cross channels.
Why prisoners are considered missing
Dobroserdov explained that exclusion from the missing persons register happens only under one of two conditions. The first is if the person is released and is either in territory controlled by the Ukrainian government or in a country with which Ukraine has international legal agreements.
The second is if law enforcement agencies make a legal decision that a discovered body has been identified as belonging to a person who was previously considered missing.
Prisoner exchange before Easter
On April 19, a large prisoner exchange took place between Ukraine and Russia. 277 Ukrainian defenders returned home.
Most of those who were returned are soldiers born after the year 2000.
