GENEVA – The number of missing persons in the Russia-Ukraine war has more than doubled over the past year, reaching 50,000, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Speaking on Thursday, Dusan Vujasanin, head of the ICRC’s Central Tracing Agency Bureau, stated that the organization had documented 23,000 missing persons in 2023. That figure has now risen sharply to 50,000, with around 90% of the cases involving military personnel. The ICRC did not specify the nationalities of those missing.
Since the war began in March 2022, the ICRC has played a key role in tracing missing individuals, facilitating information exchange between Russia and Ukraine. The number of reported missing persons has escalated from 1,000 per month to 5,000 per month, which the organization attributes to both the escalating conflict and improved reporting systems, including online documentation for families.
For the first time, the ICRC also disclosed that it had received 16,000 notifications from both Russia and Ukraine about individuals held captive by opposing forces since 2022.
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to end the conflict are gaining momentum. U.S. President Donald Trump, who took office on January 20, 2025, has pledged a swift resolution to the war. On Wednesday, he held separate discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, instructing U.S. officials to begin peace negotiations aimed at ending the nearly three-year-long conflict.
As the war continues, thousands of families remain in distress, awaiting news of their missing loved ones while global leaders work toward a possible resolution.