Almost 38,000 people are considered to be missing under special circumstances in Ukraine

This was reported by Olena Beliachkova, coordinator of the POWs' Families Groups of the NGO Media Initiative for Human Rights, at a press conference at the Ukrainian mission to the OSCE in Vienna, Ukrinform reports.

“Today, the number of missing persons is officially almost 38,000 - this is the figure that is included in the Unified Register of Persons Missing under Special Circumstances, according to the applications submitted by the relatives of the missing persons,” Beliachkova said.

At the same time, the coordinator emphasized that the actual number of disappeared persons may be higher, as the statistics do not take into account people whose disappearance was not reported. For example, the disappeared person had no relatives to report the disappearance, or the person or their relatives were under occupation, where there is no access to Ukrainian state registers.

Olena Beliachkova noted that the register of missing persons under special circumstances includes not only missing military personnel, but also civilians, both adults and children. The register also contains data on bodies that have not yet been identified and are undergoing DNA testing.

• Earlier it was reported that about a third of the Ukrainian prisoners of war exchanged during the large-scale war were considered missing.