Russia launched its invasion in February 2022
Kiev:
Ukraine said on Thursday that more than 26,000 people, including many civilians, were still missing since Russia launched its full-scale invasion last year.
The number of officially missing persons is difficult to estimate as Russian forces still occupy about a fifth of the country and neither side regularly releases data on military casualties.
“More than 26,000 people are currently wanted and missing under special circumstances. Of these, 11,000 are civilians and about 15,000 are military personnel,” Deputy Interior Minister Leonid Tymchenko said on national television.
This only includes people whose data has been officially verified, Interior Ministry spokeswoman Mariana Reva told AFP, adding that the “figures could grow”.
Large parts of Ukrainian territory have remained under Russian occupation since the start of the war, which has destroyed entire towns and cities and killed thousands of people.
Russia launched its invasion in February 2022.
Ukraine launched a counter-offensive in June to take back occupied territory, but has admitted progress is slow as its forces encounter heavily fortified Russian defense lines.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
