In Vinnytsia, an action was held under the walls of the regional bureau of forensic medical examination, in which more than 500 people took part, expressing support for the families of missing servicemen. The main goal of the event was to draw attention to the problems of delaying the identification of bodies, difficulties with repatriation, and questions about the burials that have already been held.<\/p>\n
The participants of the action held posters with the call “Return the Names to the Heroes!” and discussed the violation of the rights of families to receive timely information about the fate of their relatives. The main issues also included outdated norms and the lack of an integrated approach to the identification procedure.<\/p>\n
Kateryna Androsova, a lawyer and human rights activist for the families of missing servicemen, emphasized that Ukraine should focus more on international protocols that are already used in the world. She noted that there is a DVI system in the world, developed by Interpol, which allows identifying a person in a short time – from one to two days. In Ukraine, they mainly rely on DNA testing, which significantly delays the identification process.<\/p>\n
Hanna Strazhevska, coordinator of the Association of Families of Missing and Detained Persons and Prisoners of War of the 3rd Russian Infantry Brigade, noted that the situation could worsen after the deoccupation of the territories. She expressed concern about the lack of forensic anthropology and archaeology specialists who are needed to work with skeletal remains, especially in conditions of mass burials.<\/p>\n
During the event, relatives told their stories. One of the participants, Tetyana Shkrets, noted that her husband disappeared in February 2024. After undergoing DNA diagnostics, the family received information about a match, but numerous inconsistencies were found in the examination materials. Another participant, Natalia Izerynska, spoke about her husband, who disappeared in April 2023 during the fighting in Bakhmut, and noted that she had not received any information about his fate.<\/p>\n
The participants of the action submitted an open letter to the bureau’s management, in which they pointed out problems, in particular, improper conditions for storing bodies, compliance with the temperature regime and the identification process. They also called for changes in the approaches to the institution’s work and the implementation of international standards.<\/p>\n
Representatives of the bureau did not approach the protesters or comment on the situation. The participants of the action claim that the bureau’s employees watched them from the windows and showed contempt for their demands. After the event, one of the employees, according to the protesters, spoke negatively about them, which prompted the families to initiate an internal investigation into the employee’s unethical behavior.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In Vinnytsia, an action was held under the walls of the regional bureau of forensic medical examination, in which more than 500 people took part, expressing support for the families of missing servicemen. The main goal of the event was to draw attention to the problems of delaying the identification of bodies, difficulties with repatriation, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":33639,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n