Ukraine: International commission: 30 thousand Ukrainians declared missing

Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian attack on Ukraine, 30,000 people have disappeared. Ukrainian civilians - said Kathryne Bomberger, head of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP).

"Currently, it is about 30,000 people. And these are only civilians. And currently I am not sure who this number includes. We are trying to determine what these numbers are and what they mean," said Bomberger, quoted by Suspilne.

She added that this number may include people separated from their loved ones, imprisoned people, and people who have no right to contact with their families. These may also include people who died but their bodies were not identified, as well as children illegally taken from Ukraine.

Bomberger emphasized that the number of missing people is increasing. She noted that the number of missing Ukrainians was already high shortly after the start of Russian aggression in 2014, "but not as high as now."

As Suspilne writes, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs has information about 26,000 missing, including 11 thousand civilians and 16 thousand military.

Ukrainian families are looking for missing loved ones

Social media are often used to search for missing people – the same is true now when separated Ukrainian families are looking for their loved ones. However, aid organizations advise against acting on your own and publishing photos that can be accessed by any Internet user.