How to search for a missing soldier and check whether he is in captivity: algorithm of actions
31 July 2024 19:24
EXCLUSIVE
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 52,673 people have been reported missing since 24 February 2022, about 37,000 of them under special circumstances. During the same period, 3,676 cases of children going missing were recorded. Families of missing people often do not know where to turn for help and what state guarantees they can have. [ Kommersant has collected all possible options for finding relatives. An unnamed officer of the Ukrainian Defence Forces involved in the social support of families of missing servicemen exclusively spoke about the complexities of this process.
First, the missing person must be reported to the state authorities. The algorithm is as follows:
1. Gather information about the reason for the lack of communication with the defender from the military unit (by calling the hotline) and clarify the last whereabouts of the defender and the circumstances after which he disappeared.
There is a hotline for tracing missing persons:
- 0 800 339 247 (from Monday to Friday from 9:00-18:00)
- 095 896 0421 (on weekends via Viber and Telegram messages)
- to contact the call centre staff, you can use the following e-mail: [email protected].
2. Establish communication with the territorial recruitment and social support centre from which the person was mobilised and check whether there is a message from the unit confirming the status of the missing person.
How to search for missing persons on your own
The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets recommends the following Ukrainian resources for searching for a person on your own:
- Botwhich will help you create a request to search for family members and friends with whom you have lost contact due to the hostilities.
- All-Ukrainian chat on searching for missing persons.
- Official Search by data Of the National Information Bureau.
- Facebook group for searching for people during the war.
- Ukrainian website for searching for for missing or dead people.
- Ukrainian search and rescue volunteer association.
Communities on social media to help in the search for missing persons
Use social media to spread the word and ask for help from communities that specialise in the search for missing soldiers. Community administrators often search for mentions of our military on Russian social media themselves and publish information about a particular soldier. And often, thanks to these communities, Ukrainians learn about their relatives.
There are well-known groups searching for missing persons on social media:
- “Irina Ukraine“
- “Search for missing persons“
- “Prisoners of war and missing persons“
- “Search for prisoners and missing persons“
- “Search for missing persons“
You can also receive and submit information about a loved one who has gone missing or been captured through the personal account of the Coordination Centre. You can log in through Diia.
You can also contact international organisations. The International Committee of the Red Cross offers its assistance in searching for missing persons. Bureau of the ICRC Central Tracing Agency. You need to fill out the online form here.
“The Red Cross is not doing enough to help search for missing persons
An unnamed officer of the Ukrainian Defence Forces involved in the social support of the families of missing servicemen, speaking exclusively to Kommersant Ukrainian, still advises against relying solely on the Red Cross:
“The ICRC does not support or promote this practice. Also, the ICRC condemns the videos filmed by Ukrainian activists/journalists with captured Russian military (with their own consent), which are intended to inform Russian society in the context of a complete information blockade, as well as to facilitate the search and exchange of Ukrainian defence servicemen and civilians among civilians,” an officer of the Ukrainian defence forces
According to the speaker, during each exchange, a certain number of liberated Ukrainian citizens are in the status of “b/w” (usually 2-5 per exchange group ).
“Thus, information about the captivity of missing persons appears systematically. If at the beginning of the full-scale invasion the enemy published demoralising videos within a few days after the capture, now it can take several months before they are published,” a Ukrainian defence officer
Also, as the source notes 
Disappearances of citizens in the temporarily occupied territories will increase
An officer of the Ukrainian Defence Forces involved in social support for the families of missing servicemen raises another problem.
“By 2026, the occupation authorities of the Russian Federation have planned to open 28 detention facilities in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine in addition to the existing ones (which will contribute to the disappearance of Ukrainian citizens in the temporarily occupied territories, their involvement in hard labour in engineering fortifications, dismantling of destroyed cities, etc., as well as in the illegal activities of the Russian occupation forces on the territory of Ukraine – a direct violation of IHL),” the officer of the Ukrainian Defence Forces concludes
However, the source concludes
We would like to add that as of July 2024, the Russian occupiers are holding more than 14,000 Ukrainian civilians in captivity. According to Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, it is even more difficult to return civilian prisoners home than children or military personnel.
Social guarantees for families of missing persons
An unnamed officer of the Ukrainian Defence Forces involved in social support for the families of missing servicemen raises the issue of payments to missing servicemen.
“As of now, additional payments are received until the missing serviceman is declared dead (in court after the statute of limitations has expired or by DNA match). The new resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers wants to regulate this aspect in order to optimise the expenditure side of the budget,” a Defence Forces officer said
However, today, relatives of missing servicemen can count on social guarantees provided by the state. Importantly, after the fact of the disappearance is confirmed.
- Servicemen are still entitled to receive their salaries. To apply for payments, relatives need to submit an application to the commander of the military unit. Payments will be accrued for the entire period when the person retains the legal status of a missing person.
- Disabled family members who were dependent on the missing person and his/her children are entitled to a survivor’s pension.
To apply, you need to contact the territorial unit of the Pension Fund.
Over 17,000 people found alive during 2 years of full-scale war
The head of the Ukrainian Human Rights Protection Centre, Lyudmyla Denisova, said that as of February 2024, 17,850 people out of 51,000 had been found alive, which is 35%.
There were also cases when Russia returned people during the exchanges who were not confirmed to the Ukrainian side and who were considered missing in Ukraine, Denisova added.
“When there was an exchange of 200 people on 3 January, 48 of them were not confirmed by the Russian Federation, but were handed over to Ukraine as part of the exchange. So, of course, we need to do everything to ensure that Russia confirms the presence of such a person, which means that the person is alive. For the relatives, this is almost a victory in their search efforts. Sometimes we search for 18 months, wait for an answer, and ask, ask, ask the ICRC again, and suddenly the ICRC confirms it. For the fifth or tenth time, Russia confirms that the person is a prisoner of war. It’s really a holiday for the family,” says Denisova.
This example once again emphasises that Russia is a terrorist country for which human life is worthless. And those who are looking for their relatives today should not give up.
Moreover, relatives often sound the alarm in advance, even if they have been out of touch for half a day. A serviceman can be considered missing if he fails to contact his command for 15 days. If there is no communication for several days (3 days or more ), first of all, you need to contact your comrades-in-arms, direct commander (as this may be due to lack of mobile coverage, a dead phone due to lack of electricity or a long-term combat mission) and find out the reason for the lack of communication with the defender.
Author – Anastasia Fedor
