Almost 30,000 Ukrainians officially missing since early 2024

Almost 30,000 Ukrainian military and civilians have been granted the status of missing persons since the beginning of 2024.

This was reported by Artur Dobroserdov, the Commissioner for Persons Gone Missing under Special Circumstances, who spoke with Ukrainian Pravda.

It is noted that currently there are more than 71,000 files in the register of persons who have gone missing amid war. These include both military personnel and civilians. Since the beginning of 2024 alone, almost 30,000 people have received such status. Dobroserdov stopped short of specifying numbers for military service members citing classified nature of this information.

“Once a month, we compile statistics on missing persons by region, by the place of registration of the person who went missing. As of the end of December 2024, Donetsk region ranks first, followed by Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions,” the Commissioner noted.

In total, 59,000 Ukrainians remain missing. Of them, 7,500 have been confirmed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as prisoners of war.

As of January 1, 2025, the search for 9,255 missing persons has been suspended, including 3,923 after their whereabouts was established, as well as after 5,332 bodies were identified.

In addition, the register collects information on unidentified bodies. There are currently more than 3,200 such records.

“Every month, sometimes twice a month, bodies are repatriated. We hand over the bodies of Russian invaders and take the bodies of our defenders. This procedure continues steadily, without major interruptions. Accordingly, certain search operations are underway on the other side. They have been giving the bodies back. To date, we have managed to take 5,500 bodies,” Dobroserdov concluded.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, as of December 26, almost 60,000 people were designated as missing in the Unified Register.