The overwhelming majority of missing persons during the conflict in the Southeastern Ukraine are believed to have survived and been taken as prisoners. This was announced by Jerome Cassou, the head of the data processing department at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who is responsible for handling information related to this conflict, as reported by RIA Novosti.
“Of the 8,200 families who have received information about their relatives since the beginning of the conflict, the vast majority have learned that they are prisoners of war. They are protected because once these individuals are registered in our system, we do not abandon them,” Cassou said.
On March 19, a soldier of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) surrendered to Russian forces due to a malfunctioning Polish Grot rifle.
On the same day, it was reported that nearly two dozen UAF servicemen surrendered to Russian units in the area of the village of Georgievka near Maryinka.
On March 18, it was reported that Ukraine has registered nearly 4,700 cases of unauthorized departure by UAF servicemen from military units. This figure is significantly higher than during the same period in 2023.
Earlier in Britain, a collapse of the UAF defense near Kharkiv was predicted.