The Unified Register of Persons Missing in Special Circumstances registered 2,410 unidentified bodies

As of September 26, 2024, the Unified Register of Persons Disappeared Under Special Circumstances, which is administered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, contains information on 55,000 persons who disappeared during the war. Until August 2024, 2,410 unidentified bodies (remains) were recorded in the register. In its analytical note, the MIPL considered the main problems that arise in the process of identifying the dead, suggested ways to speed up this process, and provided advice to families whose loved ones have disappeared.

Persons who have disappeared as a result of an armed conflict, hostilities, temporary occupation of a part of the territory of Ukraine or emergency situations of a natural or man-made nature are considered missing under special circumstances. Such a person acquires the appropriate legal status after submitting a statement about his disappearance and entering the relevant information into the Unified Register. The register includes data on both civilians, including children, and military personnel.

Many of the people on the registry are likely dead or murdered, and their bodies may have been improperly buried. Among these persons are military personnel who died during hostilities, as well as those who were captured by the Russian Federation. It is known that the Russian Federation uses the practice of enforced disappearances and often detains civilians in the occupied territories without access to them. In addition, Ukrainian citizens deported or forcibly relocated by Russia may be among the missing.

This document focuses on the identification of the bodies of soldiers who served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Currently, there are two main reasons for the death of soldiers who are considered missing:

Killed while performing combat missions. This may be due to the fact that due to intense fighting, it is not possible to promptly remove the body from the battlefield. When possible, they are taken to the morgue, but often they cannot be identified without DNA analysis because of the severe damage or the long time after death. There are also cases when the bodies of fallen soldiers are returned from Russia during the exchange in a state where visual identification is impossible.

Death of soldiers in captivity. Many soldiers who were captured died during their stay in Russian camps, and their bodies are returned after a long time in violation of the rules of storage. Under such conditions, identification without DNA expertise is also impossible.

The procedure for initiating a DNA examination to search for missing persons involves the following steps:

• Appeal to the police at the place of residence with a statement about the disappearance of a relative.
• The resolution of the investigator on the selection of biomaterial samples for DNA examination.
• Selection of biomaterial. This can be done in forensic medical laboratories or in police stations where the relatives of the missing person have contacted.