Kiev, Ukraine
Cnn
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“Hi, mother. All is good. I’ll be offline, maybe for a long time, maybe a week or a month. Don’t worry.”
This was the last message in which Nazar Acrytney sent his mother on March 30, 2022. About three years later, he is still not in touch. In the eastern Ukrainian city of Maripol, the Ukrainian fighter Medicine disappeared at the age of 33, which was currently under siege in a bloody chapter of the Russian war against Ukraine.
On April 12, 2022, Acrytney’s mother, Veltna Ochientia, was formally told that her son was practically missing, “possibly occupied.” Despite the tireless search of her 61 -year -old mother, until March 2025, she is neither confirmed by the dead nor is known to survive.
Oceanne is one of about 60,000 military personnel and citizens have been declared missing under special circumstances in the government’s Unified Register. However, the actual number may be very high.
“If that person is in the register – there are two major versions – that person is either in Russian imprisonment, or that person is dead,” said Artor Dobosardov, the missing persons commissioner in special circumstances.
But as long as the war continues, it is more difficult for the Ukrainian government to find those who were caught or killed.
The way the war has been fought has also changed since 2022. Now both troops use the drone widely, so it is very difficult to return the bodies from the front lines – which is why Russia and Ukraine regularly exchange bodies. Ukraine has been able to bring more than 7,000 bodies home since Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022.
“All military units know that they have to take the bodies of both our guards and enemies. If taken, the enemy’s body is an asset to be used in the ‘Exchange Fund’ (A) return method.
Mandatory DNA testing
During his last return, on February 14, the bodies of the Ukraine 757 were brought home. But for their relatives, this was still not the moment when they could eventually bury their beloved according to the Ukrainian traditions.
“I’ll tell you the bitter truth. You still have to be lucky to find your loved ones and bury them.
The identity of the missing persons in the remnants returning home is a long and complex process. Dobosardov said – Often what is returned are the remains of the bodies.
“The most difficult for a specialist is that when a package comes and has a large number of physical pieces. When you open it, you do not understand whether it belongs to one person or 10 to 20 to 20,” said Deputy Director of the State Scientific Research Franzic Center, Russein Abbasov.
Experts say that sometimes, but not often, the bodies are brought back with their identity indications. However, this information needs to be crossed. There have been cases where a body was assigned to a body, but, after DNA testing, it came out as a different person.
Even if relatives recognize a falling soldier, DNA testing is still necessary for final identification. It is especially important to return home, said Dobosardov, where the remnants returning can belong to many people, said Dobosardov.
“We take DNA samples from every part of the body and make DNA profile. We only release the body when we have tested everyone with this return. Since you cannot make an identity order, bury someone, and then find some other remnants after a while,” said Dobroshov.
In cases where the missing person has no relatives, experts also analyzed the goods left behind – especially items that are in direct contact with their skin – to find a DNA match.
To accelerate the search, the Ukrainian authorities are turning to modern technologies. On February 20, Ukrainian national police posted computer photos made on social media by five unidentified people produced by a computer that were killed in action.
The message said, “If you recognize any of your relatives or friends who have gone missing because of the war or know those who are looking for them, please contact us.”
It was the first time that the Ukrainian residents used 3D-reconstruction techniques for this purpose.
“We are examining technology to restore the facial features of unknown institutions based on skull shape and available genomic information available,” Khorastena Podariako, head of the National Police War Crime Investigation Department, told CNN.
This allows the color of the hair and skin to be restored, such as the shape of the face and the expected age.
Ukraine also use facial identity software provided by Western partners and searches databases, social media and online. A tool has been used by Claire View AI application, which allows users to identify faces from photos posted on social networks and helped researchers identify missing soldiers in this confinement.
According to Dobosardov, Russia does not always have the correct list of prisoners of war, which means that Ukraine people have to find and confirm the identity of many of the people involved.
CNN had extraordinary access to a facial identification facilities in Kiev, where a team of four people hunt, and try to identify any captured soldiers appearing on Russian telegram channels or media. Such work requires special attention to detail. There are photos of dozens of soldiers on computer screens. If the team gets a match, it will inform the soldier’s family that their loved ones are likely in captivity.
In support of government efforts, Ukrainian people unite in the so -called “families of families”, which look for Russian TV channels, social media and news videos for the disappearance.
Families often investigate. Acrenia received information from at least three different people that her son, Kambet Medical, was seen in prison in Russia.
“Everything is similar to the words of witnesses. They recognized it from his picture, his Kalasin told me where and how his tattoo was. A boy told him that Nazar had beaten his arm for two weeks when the Russians burned his body on Ukraine.
He found out about three places where Acrytney was probably seen: in Russia’s Wulgrord and Sakha areas, and in the Russian -occupied Donutsk region in the Olenica prison. It has given all the information submitted to the Ukrainian authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross. But his son is not included in any official Russian list.
Acrenia also provided his DNA, but the database did not get any match. “This means that he is alive. I know him He may be in a jail where he has not yet released the prisoners, so his name has not been found anywhere.
In the last three years, Akritnia has attended many meetings organized by relatives of the missing persons and joined almost every telegram group where they talk. He has contacted everyone with Acrytney’s brigade, and is still looking for it everywhere.
“I have an old video with him in which he is driving, joking and laughing with other boys. I watch this video many times daily. I know every second, every turn of the eye, every wave of hand,” said Akritnia.
Ukrainian President Wolodmeer Zelannsky has repeatedly said that Ukraine is ready to exchange “for everyone”. The release of all Ukrainian kidnappers will be a good step towards peace.
Like the thousands of other Ukrainian families, Okritnia is waiting for the same.
“I’m actually asking God to bring his son back to me. I don’t need anything else. Just to bring it back,” he said.
