(Photo credit: hurricanehank/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukraine’s unified register for missing persons lists 42,000 citizens who disappeared under special circumstances, an Interior Ministry official reported on July 17, as per Ukrinform. The register tracks those missing due to war, occupation, or natural and man-made disasters.
Since its launch in May 2023, the register has documented 51,000 missing persons. Dmytro Bohatiuk, head of the ministry’s missing persons department, highlighted the humanitarian toll of Russia’s full-scale invasion, marked by deportations, kidnappings, and significant military and civilian casualties.
The figure has grown from April when nearly 37,000 Ukrainians were reported missing. Bohatiuk noted that 7,000 individuals have been located, including 3,000 former prisoners of war alive and 4,000 deceased, primarily soldiers.
Reports on Ukrainians in Russian captivity remain sporadic. In November, authorities estimated 2,384 soldiers and civilians remained detained, though prisoner exchanges have occurred. This figure excludes over 19,500 children forcibly deported to Russia, Belarus, or occupied territories.