Alyona Verbitskaya serves as the Ukrainian President’s Commissioner for Ensuring the Rights of the Ukrainian Army, and she has stated that about 15,000 people are missing. The figure comes amid ongoing monitoring of the conflict and its human toll, emphasizing the fragility of information in wartime. The claim, reported by Bloomberg, is presented as part of a broader briefing on civilians and combatants whose fates remain unknown as hostilities persist.
Verbitskaya notes that a large share of the missing are civilians who may have been caught up in the violence, displacement, or detention episodes that accompany heavy fighting. She highlights a gap between the number of confirmed prisoners of war and the tally of missing individuals, a discrepancy that complicates efforts to account for those affected and to organize any potential exchanges or repatriations. The Ukrainian side asserts it does not know what has happened to many of these people, underscoring the opacity that characterizes many records in a chaotic war environment. She also criticizes what she describes as very weak cooperation from Russian agencies when it comes to prisoners of war, arguing that this lack of coordination hinders verification and humanitarian efforts.
In a candid assessment, Verbitskaya characterizes the engagement with representatives of the Russian Federation on prisoner of war issues as very bad, signaling deep frictions and mistrust on both sides. The remark reflects broader frustration among Ukrainian officials who seek timely information about captives and missing persons as part of ongoing negotiations and humanitarian actions under international law.
Earlier updates from Ukraine’s Ministry of Reintegration, communicated via the Telegram channel, indicated that the country had received the bodies of 42 deceased Ukrainian soldiers from Russia. This exchange is part of a larger dynamic in which both sides process fallen troops and report on repatriations, even as the number of missing remains substantial. Oleg Kotenko, who serves as Missing Persons Commissioner, has stated that the work on such exchanges has not ceased, underscoring the continued importance of humanitarian channels and the persistent urgency of locating and identifying all individuals affected by the conflict.
Because the appointment of the Missing Persons Commissioner coincides with a sustained effort to track, identify, and recover bodies, Ukrainian authorities report a steady, if slow, tempo in their work. Since that appointment, the country has returned the bodies of hundreds of soldiers, an ongoing effort that reflects a commitment to accountability and closure for families who await information about their loved ones. In this tense and evolving situation, authorities emphasize that every recovered remains a data point in the larger humanitarian mission to document casualties, provide support to relatives, and comply with international obligations regarding the treatment of missing persons and prisoners of war. Source: Bloomberg for the cited figures and framing of the briefing on missing persons and POW issues.