The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday that the number of missing persons in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has doubled to 50,000 in the last year.
“The International Committee of the Red Cross reported 23,000 missing persons last year. According to Dusan Vujasanin, head of the ICRC’s Central Tracing Agency Bureau for the conflict, “that number has more than doubled; the ICRC has documented around 50,000 cases of missing persons.”
According to him, servicemen and women made up about 90% of the missing. A breakdown of missing people by nationality was not provided by the ICRC.
Through its Central Tracing Agency Bureau, where Russia and Ukraine exchange information with the international organization, the ICRC has been conducting a search for missing persons since the start of the conflict in March 2022.
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An escalating conflict and enhanced reporting tools, like online documentation for families, were blamed by the organization for the “exponential increase” in reported missing persons, which went from an average of 1,000 to 5,000 per month.
For the first time, the ICRC revealed that since 2022, it has received 16,000 notifications from Russia and Ukraine regarding missing persons detained by each country.
U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to bring the war in Ukraine to a quick conclusion. Trump, who assumed office on January 20, spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin separately about the war on Wednesday.
