MOSCOW, April 6. /TASS/. Relatives of Ukrainian soldiers classified as missing in action have gathered for a rally in downtown Kiev, the Ukrinform agency reported.

It released a video featuring several dozen people holding photos of their missing relatives and banners. Some demand that the missing be treated as killed so that families can receive compensation due.

Rallies like this take place from time to time in different parts of Ukraine. According to local media outlets, some families have had to pay bribes to get their kin included in POW exchanges. The Ukrainian authorities are primarily interested in the return of high-profile individuals, while the fate of other Ukrainian citizens is of lesser concern to Kiev.

Moreover, the authorities are in no hurry to acknowledge soldiers’ deaths. Ukrainian and foreign analysts have repeatedly noted that Kiev’s official data on its losses are most likely heavily underreported. According to some experts, it is not ruled out that the country’s authorities are deliberately delaying the identification of soldiers’ bodies so as not to pay compensations to the families of those killed.