Do not forget: Ukrainian families are looking for missing people with AI

Do not forget: Ukrainian families are looking for missing people with AI

kyiv, Ukraine - "Hello, mom. Everything is fine. I will probably be offline for a long time, maybe a week or a month. Don't worry." This was the last news that Nazar Ocheretnyi sent on March 30, 2022. Almost three years later, she received no news from him. The Ukrainian paramedic disappeared into Mariupol, the eastern Ukrainian city, which was besieged against Ukraine during one of the bloodiest chapters of the Russian war at the time.

The fate of the missing

On April 12, 2022, Ocheretnyi's mother, Valentyna Ocheretnaya, was officially informed that her son is considered missing and "possibly captured". Despite the tireless search, he will not be confirmed as dead until March 2025.

ocheretnyi is one of almost 60,000 military and civilians who are listed as missing in the uniform register of the government under special circumstances. However, the actual number could be much higher.

The challenges of identification

"If a person is in the register, there are two main variants: the person is either in Russian captivity or is dead," explained Artur Dobroserdov, representative for people who are missing under special circumstances. The longer the war lasts, the more difficult it is for the Ukrainian government to find the prisoners or killed people.

The way in which the war is waged has also changed since 2022. Both armies now use extensive drones, which increasingly complicates the return of corpses from the front lines. For this reason, Russia and Ukraine regularly exchange corpses. Since the beginning of the comprehensive invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, Ukraine has brought more than 7,000 corpses back.

compulsory tests for DNA

During the last return on February 14, Ukraine brought the corpse of 757 soldiers home. But for their relatives this was not the moment when they could bury their loved ones according to Ukrainian tradition.

"I tell you the bitter truth. You still have to be lucky to find and bury your relatives," commented someone on social media in a discussion about missing soldiers.

The identification of missing persons among the remains brought back is a lengthy and complex process. Often only remains of bodies are returned, which are mutilated, fragmented, decayed or burned, DobroserDov.

research techniques for facial analysis

In order to accelerate the search, the Ukrainian authorities turn to progressive technologies. On February 20, the National Police of Ukraine posted computer -generated pictures of five unknown men who had fallen in action on social media.

"If you recognize any relatives or friends who are missing due to the war or have information about them, please contact us," it said in the message.

This was the first time that Ukrainians were used 3D reconstruction techniques for this purpose. "We test the technology for restoring the facial features of non -identifiable bodies based on the shape of the skull and available genomic information," said Khrystyna Podyriako, head of the department to investigate war crimes by the National Police.

support of families and relatives

As part of the support of the government, Ukraine and its citizens form so -called “family army”, who are looking for signs of missing in Russian television channels, social media and news videos. Families also often carry out their own investigations. Ocheretnaya received information from at least three different people that her son, the paramedic, was seen in Russia in captivity.

"Everything is right with what the eyewitnesses report. They recognized him in his photo, described his nickname and where he had a tattoo. A man said that Nazar had given him associations for two weeks after the Russians had burned a tattoo with a Ukrainian emblem on his body," said Ocheretnaya.

Especially the hope of returning remains the central point for many affected families. Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj has repeatedly said that Ukraine is ready for an "all-for-all" exchange. The complete release of all Ukrainian prisoners by Russia would be a big step towards peace.

"I ask God to bring my son back. I don't need anything else. Just him back," she said.