As previously reported, after difficult negotiations and with the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, 54 bodies of defenders from Olenivka were recovered.

Their identification was one of the issues discussed at a sitting of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War during a meeting with the relatives of the military. Families are concerned about how quickly the identification process will be completed.

DNA analysis is still underway, which in this case requires a lot of time.

A representative of the Office of the Commissioner for Missing Persons Ivan Anhelin explained to the participants the algorithm of DNA analysis and the reasons for a protracted course of the process: “Having recovered the bodies of fallen heroes, we pass them for forensic examination to specialized institutions. Then an investigator reports information about the fallen directly to the relatives. The lengthy process of DNA analysis is due to investigation of other aspects of the crime in Olenivka.”

The participants of the Coordination Headquarters sitting agreed to take measures to speed up the process of identifying the bodies, in particular to find an opportunity to increase the number of relevant laboratories.