Nearly 30,000 Ukrainians have received missing status since start of 2024

As of 2024, nearly 30,000 Ukrainians have been granted the status of missing persons. The register of disappeared persons in exceptional situations currently contains more than 71,000 records, encompassing both military and civilian individuals.

The Commissioner for Persons Missing under Special Circumstances, Artur Dobroserdov, stated this in a comment to Ukrainian Pravda.

As the official noted, specific data on the military remain classified.

"Once a month, we summarize the statistics of missing persons by region – by the place of registration of the person who went missing. According to the data as of the end of December 2024, Donetsk is in first place, followed by Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions," Dobroserdov noted.

According to the Commissioner for Missing Persons Artur Dobroserdov, a total of 59 thousand people are still wanted, of which only 7.5 thousand are confirmed by the International Committee of the Red Cross as prisoners.

As of January 1, 2025, the search for 9,255 people was suspended, of which:

• 3,923 were found alive,
• 5,332 people were identified among the dead.

The register also includes more than 3,200 records of unidentified bodies.

^{Infographics by Andrii Kalistratenko, Ukrainian Pravda}

Dobroserdov mentioned that repatriation of remains occurs every month and, at times, more frequently. Ukraine transfers the bodies of deceased occupiers to Russia and receives those of its defenders in return. Overall, a total of 5,500 bodies of Ukrainian individuals have been repatriated.

"Every month, and sometimes twice a month, repatriation of bodies is carried out. We transfer the bodies of the occupiers to Russia and receive the bodies of our defenders. This procedure is taking place stably, without major interruptions. Accordingly, certain search operations are underway on the other side. They are returning the bodies. To date, we have returned 5,500 bodies," the official said.

Earlier, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, noted that for ten years, the Russian Federation has not provided any information about civilian hostages.

He mentioned that the Ukrainian government has consistently utilized its means of communication with the Russian side. Specifically, he has had conversations with Russian Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova, addressing concerns regarding civilians.

"Unfortunately, we do not have a result as such. Precisely because we cannot receive any information from the Russian Federation, we do not have the exact number of those illegally detained by the aggressor country," Lubinets said.

He says that it is impossible to determine how much time the Ukrainian government will need, even in theory, to bring back all the civilians who are currently held captive in Russia, due to a lack of means to do so.

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It should be noted that in May of this year, Ukraine launched the Unified Register of Missing Persons, which was developed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Commissioner for Missing Persons, and other departments.

Thus, the register collects and centralizes data on missing persons:

• name of the person,
• place and date of birth,
• marital status,
• place of residence,
• territory where the disappearance occurred,
• circumstances and time of disappearance,
• signs of the person.

The registry also contains information on whether a court has determined a person's status as missing or deceased, along with additional details that will aid in locating the individual.

It has been reported that each region has introduced an institution of the Commissioner for Persons Missing in Special Circumstances, where assistants, psychologists, and lawyers are employed.

In addition, Rubryka told how a consultation center was created in a village in the Rivne region for families searching for their missing relatives.