More than 70,000 people have been declared missing to date and are being actively searched for throughout Ukraine, said in an interview with Ukrinform, quoted by BTA, the Commissioner for the Search for Persons Missing under Special Circumstances Artur Dobroserdov.
“Today, over 70,000 people are listed as missing, including servicemen, civilians, foreign citizens and stateless persons - provided that they were legally residing in Ukraine”, Dobroserdov said.
He added that the Unified Register of Persons Missing under Special Circumstances includes data on 2,740 people who were minors at the time of their disappearance. "Even if they are already adults, we document their cases from the moment they disappeared," Dobroserdov specified.
According to him, a significant number of those still missing are military personnel. "Each component of the Security and Defense Forces independently determines how and to what extent to disclose this information," he explained.
Dobroserdov noted that search activities have been completed for over 12,000 people who have been found - either returned from captivity through an exchange, released or identified as deceased.
„The Register also has a special section for unidentified bodies. These numbers are constantly changing, as new bodies are collected from the front line, repatriations are carried out and additional identifications are made,“ the commissioner added.