Ukraine to Speed Up Identification of Fallen Soldiers as Over 26,000 Bodies Returned

Ukraine will set up an interagency group to speed up the identification of fallen soldiers, as a significant share of more than 26,000 repatriated bodies and remains returned to the country are still unidentified. Head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Budanov announced the plan on Friday, Oct. 2, after chairing a meeting of the Coordination Council on protecting the rights of war veterans and their families, as well as families of fallen defenders, prisoners of war (POWs) and missing persons.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Under the plan, authorities will review the work of forensic medical examination bureaus, particularly in the regions, and bring in additional international capacity for DNA testing. “Why is identification proceeding so slowly, while families are forced to live in uncertainty for months and years?” Budanov said, adding that “bureaucratic delays and violations of regulations in the forensic examination system are unacceptable.” ‘A matter of state responsibility’ Budanov said the name of every soldier killed defending Ukraine must be established, calling it a matter of state responsibility. The new interagency group will handle problematic cases related to the identification of the dead, he said. The government is expected to adopt all necessary regulatory decisions in the near future. “Families must receive information about the fate of their loved ones as quickly as possible. Every fallen Hero will be found and honored with dignity,” Budanov said. Other Topics of Interest Zelensky Orders Housing Support Options for Teachers Ahead of Education Workers’ Day President Volodymyr Zelensky also discussed the need for proper school shelters after a Russian drone’s unexploded 50 kilogram warhead broke through a Kyiv school floor on Thursday. He, however, did not specify how many of the repatriated bodies remain unidentified. Explosives frequently found in repatriated bodies The identification process is further slowed by safety and forensic challenges, stretching an already lengthy procedure even longer. Explosive devices have been discovered several times in the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers repatriated from Russia, forcing investigators to carry out mandatory safety checks long before any identification work can start. “We have found explosive objects, grenades and other things, so we work as carefully as possible,” Taras Tarasenko, a senior police investigator in the Kirovohrad region – where a large share of repatriated bodies are examined – told Ukrinform in June. Once a body is cleared, specialists search for documents, phones, dog tags and bank cards, and photograph identifying features such as tattoos and clothing before forensic examination begins. Tarasenko said batches of 200 to 250 bodies can arrive at once, while his team aims to examine about 10 a day to maintain the quality of its work. The remains of several people are often found mixed in a single bag, requiring forensic experts to separate them before DNA analysis can match each person to their family. Years of waiting The Kirovohrad center for the search for missing persons and identification of unidentified servicemen was set up within the regional police in 2024 and employs 32 people, bringing together investigators, criminologists and cyber police. According to Tarasenko, about 90% of the team’s time is centered on identification work. A DNA match is possible only once both a family’s sample and the returned body’s profile are entered into the database, and years can pass between the two, according to Tarasenko. He cited a soldier who went missing in 2023 and was identified only three years later, adding that some cases have remained unresolved since 2014. Repatriation of bodies has continued alongside prisoner exchanges. Budanov has previously described the process as one of the few remaining areas where Kyiv and Moscow continue to cooperate as broader peace efforts stall – even with US mediation efforts in the recent weeks. On Sept. 27, Budanov said a major prisoner exchange with Russia could take place as early as this current week, though he did not disclose its date or scale. The last known return took place on Aug. 24, when Ukraine brought home 10 servicemen who had been listed as missing, according to RBC-Ukraine. Several days earlier, on Aug. 19, Ukraine and Russia swapped 103 prisoners of war each. Those returning to Ukraine included members of the Armed Forces, the State Border Guard Service and the National Guard, among them defenders of Mariupol and soldiers captured in several other regions. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.