Russian courts acquired 20,000 claims in 2024 looking for to declare people lacking or useless, marking a two-and-a-half improve from earlier years, unbiased media outlet Mediazona reported on Feb. 4.

Earlier than the full-scale conflict, Russian courts dealt with roughly 8,000 such instances yearly. The surge in filings, which started in mid-2024, represents the primary important rise in lacking individuals instances since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The figures trace at mounting Russian losses in the course of the full-scale invasion, which varied estimates place between 600,000 and 840,000 killed and wounded. Moscow doesn’t publish its official casualty figures.

In response to Mediazona, many of the claims final yr had been initiated by Russian army unit commanders who sought to take away lacking troopers — presumed useless however missing official affirmation — from personnel rosters. This course of permits items to recruit replacements.

Households don’t have to consent to those authorized declarations, which regularly leaves them with out monetary help or clear details about their kinfolk' destiny, the outlet wrote.

The precise variety of lacking Russian troopers stays unknown, as courts routinely withhold candidates' names and keep away from publicizing rulings. In 2024, an estimated 12,000 further instances had been recorded past the standard peacetime figures.

North Korean troops absent from front in Russia’s Kursk Oblast since mid-January, Seoul says“Since mid-January, there have been no signs showing North Korean troops deployed to the Russian Kursk region engaging in battle,” South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said, suggesting that heavy losses may have been one of the reasons for their withdrawal.The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek

Greater than 50,000 inquiries have been submitted by Russians looking for details about lacking troopers by means of Ukraine's "I Wish to Discover" venture, Bohdan Okhrimenko, head of the Coordination Heart Secretariat, stated on Jan. 3.

Initially launched in September 2022 as a part of the "I Wish to Dwell" hotline, which helps Russian troopers give up, the venture was expanded to handle requests from households trying to find lacking troops.

Russian Deputy Protection Minister Anna Tsivilyova disclosed on Nov. 26 that her ministry had acquired 48,000 DNA take a look at functions from kinfolk hoping to find lacking troopers.

Talking at a Duma roundtable, Tsivilyova revealed that the DNA knowledge was saved in a database, inadvertently offering a uncommon glimpse into the dimensions of Russian casualties.

Andrei Kartapolov, head of the State Duma's protection committee, cautioned in opposition to publicizing such figures. "That is delicate info. After we finalize the paperwork, we should guarantee these figures don’t seem publicly," he stated.

In response to the Common Employees of Ukraine's Armed Forces, Russia has misplaced 842,930 troops since launching its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.

Russian soldiers face execution threats to retake lost ground near Kupiansk, Ukraine claimsRussian commanders in the Kupiansk sector are ordering their soldiers to retake positions from which they retreated under Ukrainian fire, threatening them with execution if they refuse, Ukraine’s Khortytsia group of forces claimed on Feb. 4, citing intelligence reports.The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy