GENEVA, February 13. /TASS/. The number of Ukrainians that the International Committee of the Red Cross documented as missing has doubled to 50,000 over the past year, said Dusan Vujasanin, head of the ICRC's Central Tracing Agency Bureau for the conflict.
"Last year, the number of missing persons that the ICRC has documented was 23,000. A year later that number has more than doubled. The ICRC has documented around 50,000 cases of missing persons," he said, Reuters reported.
The ICRC said it currently gets an average of 5,000 reports of missing persons every month, up from 1,000 a month earlier. The organization attributed the increase to an intensifying conflict and improved reporting mechanisms, such as online documentation for families.
The ICRC Central Tracing Agency Bureau for the conflict in Ukraine began its work in March 2022. It acts as a neutral intermediary, supporting people who are searching for relatives on both sides of the front. Under the Geneva Conventions, the sides are obliged to inform the ICRC of all protected persons in their power, which significantly reduces the likelihood of their disappearance without a trace.