NETHERLANDS, HAGUE, Jun 24 — Ukraine returned more than 10,000 bodies of fallen Ukrainians during 2025. This number is more than 65% of all returned human remains for the entirety of the full-scale Russia-Ukraine war, said Artur Dobroserdov, the Missing Persons Commissioner, during the International Commission on Missing Persons event on June 19 in the Hague.

Over 70,000 people are officially registered in the database of missing persons from Ukraine.

“We are working to expand the capacity of DNA laboratories and increase the number of genetics experts. We have the assistance of specialists from international organizations,” says Dobroserdov in the context of the necessity to identify the bodies and use the obtained forensic evidence to investigate possible Russian war crimes.

Earlier, Dobroserdov said that in 2022-2023, in Ukraine, only five forensic laboratories were engaged in body identification. Now, their number has grown to more than three dozen.

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