“On April 23 around 11 p.m., she left her home […] and entered the forest. Since then, no one knows where she is. » On the Ukrainian Telegram channel Пошук зинклих (Search for the missing), followed by more than 40,000 people, the faces of women, men and children follow one another, almost endlessly. Accompanied by messages on the circumstances of their disappearance – when known.
A host of similar groups have flourished on social networks since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Faced with the despair of part of its population, the Ukrainian government opened a unified register of missing persons in May 2023. And almost a year later, in mid-April 2024, the official figure came out: kyiv has identified 37,000 missing persons. after more than two years of conflict.
“It is far too early to know whether this figure is underestimated or not,” estimates Carole Grimaud, expert at the Geneva Geostrategic Observatory. The founder of the Center for Research on Russia and Eastern Europe (Creer) recalls that these figures, like those on the number of deaths, are the subject of very serious issues for States. However, “the Ukrainian authorities and civil society, as well as international observers, believe that this figure is underestimated, even if it has the advantage of showing the scale of the problem,” reacts Johanna Möhring, research fellow at the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (Cassis) at the University of Bonn.
Hidden children and soldiers
Among these missing, kyiv estimates that at least 20,000 children were deported by Russia, a fact which earned Russian President Vladimir Putin an arrest warrant, issued by the International Criminal Court. Only 400 of them were able to be repatriated, according to the Ukrainian authorities, who continue to try to organize these returns. On April 24, the Russian Commissioner for Children announced the exchange of 48 Russian and Ukrainian children displaced by the war.
Such exchanges sometimes take place between kyiv and Moscow for prisoners of war. Among them are surely some of the 37,000 missing persons sought by kyiv. “Russia claims to have detained more than 6,000 Ukrainian prisoners, of whom 2,000 were able to return. But it is believed that many more people have been captured and their imprisonment is not recorded or communicated to the Ukrainian authorities, which violates international humanitarian law,” explains Johanna Möhring. Relatives of missing soldiers continue to gather regularly in kyiv, demanding the release of imprisoned fighters.
“Prisoner trafficking”
“Some of the soldiers from the Azov regiment or the Battle of Mariupol are still detained by Russia,” recalls Carole Grimaud. According to the Azov regiment, around 900 of its fighters captured in Mariupol were still held captive by the Russians in March 2024. Johanna Möhring also reports of “prisoner trafficking” which would violate the Geneva conventions: “Moscow is accused of “selling” prisoners to Chechnya which then uses them as a bargaining chip in order to repatriate some of its soldiers, prisoners in Ukraine. »
And, “even if the government doesn’t talk about it, there are desertions,” says Carole Grimaud. In mid-April, President Volodymyr Zelensky promulgated a law to mobilize more men, who can now be called to the front from the age of 25. “Since then, even more young men have tried to cross the Tisza river to reach Romania, and there are many deaths,” explains Carole Grimaud. And to recall that these deserters, frightened by prosecution, “leave the territory without leaving an address”. At least thirteen bodies were found on the Romanian side from February 24, 2022 to October 15, 2023.
In search of “usable body parts”
But, both civilian and military, many remains are still awaiting identification in Ukraine. In tank carcasses, makeshift graves or even animal droppings, human bones are collected by teams and sent to the forensic scientific research center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. “But the workload is monumental, resulting in a long wait. Especially since some of the people looking for a member of their family have fled the country and therefore cannot give a sample of their DNA to compare it to the remains. And, unfortunately, it is sometimes impossible to find usable body parts,” explains Johanna Möhring.
Among the missing soldiers, after a long wait to find and identify them, many of them unfortunately died, underlines Oleh Kotenko, commissioner responsible for investigating missing persons, interviewed by The world. “At the start of the conflict, we witnessed exchanges of bodies of soldiers between Russia and Ukraine,” recalls Carole Grimaud, while talks between belligerents continue discreetly and with difficulty on the subject.
Disappear in occupied zone
The Ukrainian authorities face another major difficulty: Russia illegally occupies 20% of the territory. However, in the occupied zones, “kyiv no longer has control and, sometimes, does not even know who has disappeared,” underlines Carole Grimaud. “Many testimonies report regular arrests of civilians that no one ever sees again. And it is practically impossible for the Ukrainian authorities to investigate,” adds the expert at the Geneva Geostrategic Observatory.
OUR FILE ON THE WAR IN UKRAINE
In these territories, many bodies of soldiers and civilians could therefore not be identified. kyiv estimates that thousands of people were killed in Mariupol, but with Moscow occupying the city since its fall, the names of the victims are still pending. Despite the immense pain of uncertainty, many families may therefore never get an answer. Especially since, as Johanna Möhring points out, “in a situation of absolute national emergency”, the missing “are perhaps not the priority. »