The “I Want to Find” project published more than 150 profiles of prisoners of war who lived in the temporarily occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions and were recruited into the Russian army

Forwarded From The “I Want to Find” Project

The “I Want to Find” project has published more than 150 profiles of prisoners of war who lived in the temporarily occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions and were recruited into the ranks of the Russian army. All of them are still being held captive in Ukraine: Moscow refuses to include them on exchange lists.

At the same time, there are still hundreds of Russian servicemen from the so-called “L/DPR” in captivity in Ukraine, whom the Russian authorities used in the war against Ukraine and then simply abandoned.

Residents of the so-called “L/DPR” who fought as part of the Russian army are the same prisoners of war as Russian Armed Forces servicemen from Russia. They are held together with other prisoners of war, and the Geneva Convention applies to them. They are also regularly visited by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international organizations.

Relatives of such servicemen can submit a request to the “I Want to Find” project, receive confirmation of captivity, video confirmation for the military enlistment office, and speak with their loved ones.

There are no obstacles on Ukraine’s side to exchanging such prisoners of war. Moreover, the President of Ukraine and other authorized officials have repeatedly stated their readiness to conduct large-scale prisoner exchanges, including in an “all for all” format.

However, Moscow refuses to include prisoners of war from this region on exchange lists and return them home. In 2026, there have already been 7 prisoner exchanges, but among those who returned to Russia, there are almost no residents of the so-called “L/DPR.” Meanwhile, among those who have been in captivity for more than two years, they make up the majority.

The Russian authorities treat residents of the occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions as expendable material.

According to statistics from the “I Want to Find” project, as many as 7 units formed in the occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions made it into the top 20 military units by number of missing personnel. It is precisely these units that are sent to the most dangerous sections of the front, where they suffer the heaviest losses in “meat” assaults. Altogether, nearly 20,000 servicemen in these units have gone missing. And these are only those being searched for through “I Want to Find.” The real number is several times higher.

❗️ To submit a request to search for a missing Russian army serviceman in Ukraine, use the Telegram bot of the “I Want to Find” project:

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