Ukraine: Families seek answers as record number of people unaccounted for grows
Ahead of International Day of the Disappeared – on Saturday August 30 – ICRC reports more than 154,200 cases of people who are unaccounted for, from both sides of the frontline, in the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
"I met with a fellow soldier of Oleh, and he confirmed that he knew Oleh had died. But no one had seen or found the body. And this whole year of searching had been just awful, it had been hell. There are so many people going through the torment of not knowing – tens of thousands of them," says Nataliia, whose husband, a soldier, went missing in May 2024 after a mission along the frontline in Ukraine.
After months of uncertainty, Nataliia received confirmation of the worst news possible: her husband had been killed-in-action. The remains of Nataliia's husband were finally returned home during a recent repatriation between Russia and Ukraine. Nataliia’s story is unique, but she’s not alone. Ahead of the International Day of the Disappeared, on 30 August, the ICRC’s work to support the transfer of information to families who are seeking it – like Nataliia – is crucial.
The cost of the ongoing armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine is not only counted in lives lost but also those whose fate or whereabouts remains unknown. Under international humanitarian law, families have the right to know what happened to their loved ones due to armed conflict. The obligation lies with states to help provide those answers to families when information is available.
To do that, Russia and Ukraine must account for all enemy nationals in captivity and share information about them with the ICRC, acting as a neutral intermediary.
The ICRC works to facilitate the sharing of this information between Russia and Ukraine, so that families waiting for answers back home can be informed. From anywhere in the world, individuals can approach the ICRC to register cases of loved ones who are unaccounted for in relation to the armed conflict. The number of people whose fate is unknown in Russia and Ukraine that has been shared with the ICRC is historically high. As of August 2025, more than 154,200 cases of people who are unaccounted for remain open, from families on both sides of the front line. Most of these cases relate to combatants killed or missing in action. Behind each request is a family in limbo.
People in situations like Nataliia’s cannot stop holding on to hope, even when the situation seems clear. The frustration and uncertainty can be overwhelming. That’s why information, any available information, is so important.
Since the escalation of the armed conflict, the ICRC has helped provide information to more than 14,800 families on both sides of the front line, helping to clarify the fate or whereabouts of their loved ones. This includes confirmation of those captured as prisoners of war. By August 2025, more than 20,900 personal messages had been exchanged between prisoners of war and their families – again from both sides. For some, these messages are the only proof their relative is still alive.
"It is a great pity that everything turned out this way, that our whole life has been ruined. Our personal life has also been somewhat ruined, because our grandson has disappeared without a trace," says Liudmyla, whose family is still waiting for answers.
Liudmyla has been passionate about poetry for a while. She shows us her simple notebook that carries heavy emotional weight in the form of written verses. Since the disappearance of her eldest grandson, her hobby has become an outlet for grieving. The themes of her verses have unavoidably shifted. To deal with the burden of the unknown, she manages poetry groups online, where people support each other and share their stories and the sorrows of unresolved loss.
“I even heard his voice in my sleep one morning. He said, ‘Hello.’ It was his voice for sure,” Liudmyla says. “We are all waiting for him. And we will wait [until he’s back].”
ICRC Ukraine Facts & Figures January-May 2025
ICRC Central Tracing Agency Bureau for Russia and Ukraine – July 2025 Update
For further information or interview requests, please contact:
Yuliia Homonets, ICRC Spokesperson in Ukraine
(Ukrainian), yhomonets@icrc.org, +380 66 857 8128
Pat Griffiths, ICRC Spokesperson in Ukraine
(English), pgriffiths@icrc.org, +380 66 657 02 89
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a neutral, impartial and independent organization with an exclusively humanitarian mandate that stems from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It helps people around the world affected by armed conflict and other violence, doing everything it can to protect their lives and dignity and to relieve their suffering, often alongside its Red Cross and Red Crescent partners.
Shotlist:
Location: Ukraine
Length: 09;56;16
Date: 29 August 2025
Copyright: ICRC access all
On Screen Credit: ICRC written or logo
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Various shots of Nataliia, whose husband, Oleh, a soldier, went missing in May 2024 after a mission along the frontline in Ukraine.
00;00;03;14 - 00;00;08;03 SOUNDBITE Nataliia in Kyiv, speaking in Ukrainian (talking about Oleh)
“He was a very kind-hearted man, a man of honor.
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A person who would never walk past someone in need —
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even if it were a homeless person sitting or lying down, he would always stop,
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always ask, always help.
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We lived two happy years together. He was very happy — and so was I.
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Every evening, he would fly back home, stopping on the way to buy flowers
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from elderly women selling them on the street.
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When he was deployed to the Pokrovsk direction, from literally the very first days after he left
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I began to experience an intense inner strain, a deep anxiety —
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I could feel him with every cell of my body.
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On May 19th, he called me in the evening. Late in the evening.
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And he said: "Natusia, I'm going."
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I had already fallen asleep — it was around half past midnight — and I said:
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"What do you mean? Where are you going?"He said: "I’m going."
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Then he sent me a text message:
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"I'm going. I don't know what awaits me. I love you. Go with God."
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That was, in fact, our last conversation.
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And this entire year… This whole year of searching —
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It’s been a nightmare. It’s been hell.
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There are so, so many people going through this torment of not knowing.
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Tens of thousands.
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And they’re not called “vulnerable population” for nothing.
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These are truly people with torn-apart souls.
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Today you’re feeding yourself with some kind of hopes — going to rallies,
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talking with other families like yours, clinging to some shred of hope.
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And then suddenly — just like that — you realize: there is nothing to hope for.
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He couldn’t have survived. According to his comrades,
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it was impossible to get out of there. It’s incredibly hard...
00;02;13;09 - 00;02;19;27 [Soundbite: Vira Ivanivna, Oleh’s mother, reads poetry that she has written about her son]
There is no life without you, my son. The sun doesn’t shine, the sky isn’t blue.
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Only sorrow and grief remain beside me.
How I miss you, my little boy…
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I waited for a word from you, son —
But you came back in a coffin.
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How am I supposed to go on now, as your mother?
I won’t ever be able to forget you.
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You were my joy, you were my strength.
I carried you under my heart, my son.
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I dreamed of growing old with you by my side —
And now you ask me to forget you?
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Why, my son, did you leave me?
Why leave me in this silent emptiness?
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Grief and sorrow won’t leave me.
I suffer so deeply, my son, for you.
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There is no peace for me without you.
Not for a single moment do I forget.
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You were my happiness, my pain. You were my most reliable support.
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I know you’d say to me now:
"Mommy, don’t cry.
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Forgive me for everything..."
I hear that little voice from an angel.
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Forgive me, little angel, forgive me, my dear son…
I write these lines, I write, and I cry.
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I ask you, son — forgive me for everything.
I gave you conscience, I gave you courage,
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But I couldn’t save your life, my son…
00;03;41;13 - 00;03;46;23 [Soundbite: Nataliia, speaking about Oleh’s mother]
Vira Ivanivna is a very strong person
and deeply creative.
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Their whole family — my Oleh’s family —
is like that: artistic and gifted.
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When this tragedy with Oleh happened,
she didn’t write anything for a whole year.
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When we received the news that his body
had been returned through repatriation
00;04;01;24 - 00;04;05;07
(as of now, it’s known that the body
was brought back,
00;04;05;07 - 00;04;10;00
but we still don’t have official confirmation —
the forensic examination is still pending), —
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that was the moment,
when she found out, it all poured out of her.
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She began writing poems again.
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Very sorrowful ones.
Poems about her pain.
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She pours a mother’s grief into them —
the grief of losing her child.”
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Various shots of Oleh’s uniform
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Various shots of Oleh’s military badge
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Various shots of Oleh with Nataliia
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Various shots of Oleh with Nataliia
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Various shots of Nataliia is looking in the window
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Various shots of Nataliia is looking in the window. Detail.
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Oleh’s shoulder patch
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Nataliia is looking at Oleh’s documents.
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Nataliia is looking at Oleh’s documents. Close up.
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Panorama. Nataliia is looking at Oleh’s documents.
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Nataliia is looking to the camera.
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Nataliia is looking to the camera. Close up shot.
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Oleh’s certificates.
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Oleh’s shoulder patches on the uniform.
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Nataliia is holding Oleh’s uniform.
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Vira Ivanivna, Oleh’s mother. wide shot.
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Vira Ivanivna, Oleh’s mother. Close up shot.
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LIUDMYLA’S STORY [Soundbite: Liudmyla in Kharkiv Region, reading a poem about her grandson]
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“My Sunlit Boy
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Among the sunflowers, like a sunbeam through my entire life — my dear, beloved grandson.
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Fair-haired, brown-eyed, handsome,
I can hear the beat of your heart every moment.
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Such a small, slender boy,
standing in the field among the sunflowers.
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You stretch up toward the sun, growing,
and quietly whisper with the flowers.
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The sunflowers seem to embrace you.
You are a sunlit boy, a messenger of the light.
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That’s how all your family sees you.
You touch hearts with your warmth.
00;06;52;03 - 00;06;55;13 [Soundbite: Liudmyla speaking about her grandson]
I remember the first time
I held him in my arms.
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Of course, I remember — I swaddled him,
and most of the time he was in my arms.
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It is a great pity that everything turned out this way,
that our whole life has been ruined.
00;07;11;05 - 00;07;20;05
Our personal life has also been somewhat ruined,
because our grandson has disappeared without a trace.
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Here in my notebook,
everything is recorded by date.
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When something happens,
it immediately goes onto paper.
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My main task right now is sharing
what I have with others on Facebook.
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I manage three poetry groups
where I run contests.
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I imagine what it will be like when he returns.
I will kiss his hands and bow to him on my knees.
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But I will be the happiest person in the world.
I don’t need anything else.
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They say grandchildren
are like your own children.
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We are all waiting for him —
and we will wait [until he comes back].
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Wide shot. Front yard.
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Wide shot. Front yard.
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Liudmyla’s grandson. Kids pictures.
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Liudmyla’s grandson. Kids pictures.
In the kindergarten
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Liudmyla’s grandson. Kids pictures. Portrait.
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Liudmyla’s grandson. Kids pictures.
In the sunflower field.
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Liudmyla with his grandson.
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Liudmyla with his grandson on the family picture. Wide shot.
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Liudmyla with ICRC worker.
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Liudmyla is holding grandson’s unifrom.
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Liudmyla is holding grandson’s unifrom.
Close up shot.
00;09;00;09 - 00;09;04;14
Liudmyla is touching grnadson’s unifrom.
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Liudmyla is touching grnadson’s unifrom.
00;09;10;23 - 00;09;15;02
Liudmyla is touching grnadson’s unifrom.
Close up shot.
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Liudmyla’s grnadson’s unifrom. Wide shot.
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Liudmyla’s grnadson’s unifrom. Close up shot.
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Liudmyla’s book with poems.
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Liudmyla’s book with poems.
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Liudmyla’s poem.
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Liudmyla’s poem.
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Liudmyla is looking at the window.
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Liudmyla’s hand.
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Liudmyla is navigation in the Internet. Wide shot.
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Computer monitor.
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Liudmyla’s book with poems at the table.
Ends
