Summer results: more than 17,000 requests to search for missing Russian Armed Forces servicemen were submitted to the “I Want to Find” project

Forwarded From “I Want to Find” Project

Summer results: more than 17,000 requests to search for missing Russian Armed Forces servicemen were submitted to the “I Want to Find” project

results

Over the three summer months of 2026, the “I Want to Find” project received 17,046 requests to search for Russian army servicemen missing in Ukraine. At the same time, the actual number of such soldiers is significantly higher: far from all of their relatives know about the project and turn to it for help.

During the summer, based on submitted requests, the “I Want to Find” project confirmed that 321 servicemen of the Russian army were in captivity. Their loved ones can now seek to have them recognized as prisoners of war in Russia and included on exchange lists.

Thus, as part of the summer exchanges, 458 prisoners of war returned to Russia. More than half of them — 234 people — had been found by their loved ones through “I Want to Find.”

In the summer, the largest number of requests concerned searches for those missing in the Pokrovsk district of Donetsk region — 2,200, and in Kramatorsk district — 1,510.

Among the Russian army’s most “meat-grinder” units, the leaders are the 114th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, military unit 42038 from Donetsk, with 244 requests, as well as the 132nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, military unit 52892, also from Donetsk.

In absolute figures, the largest number of servicemen being searched for in the summer were from Moscow — 637 requests. Roughly the same number came from Krasnodar Krai — 512 requests. The number of missing residents of Russia’s national republics also continues to grow. Thus, 400 requests came from Bashkortostan.

But if the number of missing people is recalculated per 100,000 residents of each region, the picture turns out completely different: servicemen from Bashkortostan and Krasnodar Krai go missing twice as often as servicemen from Moscow.

❗️ 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