It became known how many people went missing because of the war
8 January 13:07
During the full-scale war with Russia, more than 71 thousand people went missing in Ukraine. The Commissioner for Persons Missing in Special Circumstances, Artur Dobroserdov, told this to UP, according to Komersant ukrainskyi.
According to him, the official register now contains more than 71 thousand records of missing persons, including both military and civilians. The Commissioner refused to answer what share of the total is accounted for by military personnel, as this is classified information.
For some reason, the government counts missing persons at the place of registration of an individual. This data provides information about where these people were registered, but not about where they disappeared.
“Once a month, we compile statistics on missing persons by region – at the place of registration of the person who went missing. According to the data as of the end of December 2024, Donetsk region is in the first place, followed by Dnipropetrovska and Kharkiv regions,”
– the official said.
Of the total number of registered persons, 59 thousand Ukrainians are still missing. Of these, 7,500 have been officially confirmed by the International Committee of the Red Cross as prisoners of war.
As of the first day of 2025, the search for 9255 people was terminated. Of these, 3923 people were found alive, and for 5332 people the search ended with the establishment of the fact of death and identification of the bodies. The register also contains data on more than 3,200 unidentified bodies.
“Every month, and sometimes twice a month, bodies are repatriated. We transfer the bodies of the occupiers to Russia and receive the bodies of our defenders. This procedure takes place steadily, without major interruptions. Accordingly, certain search activities are taking place on the other side. They are returning the bodies. To date, we have managed to return 5,500 bodies,”
– said Artur Dobroserdov.
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Payments to relatives of captured and missing soldiers
As reported by , Ukrainian soldiers can now decide for themselves who will receive payments if they go missing or are taken prisoner. The relevant law was passed and signed last fall.
A serviceman now has the right to determine in his personal order the persons who will receive financial support in case of capture or disappearance.
In the absence of such a personal order, a new order of priority for the payment of financial support in equal shares is introduced, namely
- first of all – to the wife (husband), legal representatives of minor children (persons with disabilities since childhood – regardless of their age) and parents of the serviceman
- in the second place (i.e., when there is no one from the first place) – to adult children, siblings whose legal representative is a serviceman, in a total amount not exceeding 20%.
In the event of the death of a serviceman or a court declaration of his death, unpaid amounts of financial support are paid to family members of deceased servicemen, and in the absence of such family members, are included in the inheritance.
The law also provides for
- introduction of a new approach to the distribution of the due financial support of a serviceman by identifying persons at his personal disposal in case of capture of a serviceman as a prisoner or hostage, as well as internment in neutral states or disappearance without a trace
- the Cabinet of Ministers determines the procedure and terms for the transfer of the original personal order in case of captivity to the commander of a military unit, commander/head of a military unit for storage in the personal file.
