Head of the Sverdlovsk Union of Soldiers' Mothers: "The category 'killed' - believe me, is not the most terrible"

      The reception for the families of soldiers from the Special Military Operation who are missing was held in Revda in the conference hall of the local city administration by the chairwoman of the Union of Soldiers' Mothers Committees of the Sverdlovsk Region, Marina Lebedeva, and her deputy Olga Inozemets, reports the EAN agency.

      At the beginning of the meeting, which was attended by about 50 people, it was explained to those gathered that the missing are divided into several categories. Similar to degrees of burns (from relatively mild to the most severe), the categories range from servicemen in hospitals and SOC to those about whom there has been no information for years.

      "By the way, we have 16 people - which is the highest number in Russia - missing from Chechnya: 13 from the first campaign and three from the second," said the chairwoman of the Union of Soldiers' Mothers Committees.

      Alongside the deceased and those for whom there has been no data for more than a year, a serious category of the missing is those in captivity. "Believe me, there are no accurate lists of prisoners anywhere, sometimes even the commanders do not have precise information," said Marina Lebedeva. She advises the relatives of such servicemen to check Ukrainian websites themselves.

      "But do not leave reactions, do not comment, do not sign up, do not post full names or any of your data - absolutely nothing. If a serviceman is found in captivity, it is essential to submit an appeal to the human rights commissioner to be included in the exchange list," the EAN reports the recommendations of the Union of Soldiers' Mothers Committees.

      If there are no photos or videos confirming that a person is in captivity, not to mention calls from there and official data from the Red Cross, it is most likely that he is not there. Cases where a missing person who has not given any news returns after years through an exchange are extremely rare.

      "Believe me, this is not the most terrible category. Because if he died, there is at least a grave to go and cry at, there are awards, payments, and, after all, some benefits," said Lebedeva.

      In the event that a soldier has died and his body is brought for burial, she strongly advises opening the zinc coffin and also taking genetic material from the deceased for DNA analysis. There are cases where the remains of the wrong person are brought. "Sometimes a tag is found next to the corpse, it is hung on the deceased, and it turns out to be the tag of a completely different person," Marina Lebedeva provided as an example.