Bridging Borders: Addressing Ukraine’s Missing Persons Crisis

  • Session

Bridging Borders: Addressing Ukraine’s Missing Persons Crisis

  • November 6, 2025 //
  • 9:15 am -
  • 9:30 am //

Ukraine is facing a missing person’s crisis. Following Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children were taken into Russia. Efforts are underway to locate relatives of these children to collect DNA for reunification efforts. In addition, it is estimated that over 77,000 Ukrainian fighters and over 13,500 civilians have been killed. As of September 2025, the Ukraine Office for Missing Persons under Special Circumstances estimates that 80,000 Ukrainians are missing. This year, more than 10,000 remains of fallen service members have been returned from Russia. Many of the remains are returned mutilated and co-mingled.

 

These numbers are humbling. No country in the world could meet this scale of need for DNA expertise, particularly in the three years since the full-scale invasion while fighting an ongoing war. Numerous DNA laboratories around the world—including government, academic, intergovernmental, and commercial laboratories—have offered support to enable the expansion of Ukrainian technological capabilities. Ukraine now has over 20 institutions with DNA profiling equipment, some with rapid DNA instruments, others with full genome sequencing capabilities.

 

Efforts to improve missing persons processes are also underway. The missing persons reporting systems have been streamlined to a common system as of May 2025. As of January 2024, all enlisted military service members provide an optional pre-emptive DNA specimen in case they become missing in action. At least a quarter of all service members are enrolled as of August 2025, and efforts are underway to increase enrollment at the frontlines.

 

Despite this, numerous obstacles impede identifications, both in outreach to families of missing children and in streamlining identifications of the deceased. In this presentation, we will lay out these challenges, how resources are being implemented into workflows, and the current needs for DNA resources and expertise.

 

We implore the international DNA forensics community to come together to address the human rights and humanitarian need of victims of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Ukraine is facing a missing person’s crisis. Following Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children were taken into Russia. Efforts are underway to locate relatives of these children to collect DNA for reunification efforts. In addition, it is estimated that over 77,000 Ukrainian fighters and over 13,500 civilians have been killed. As of September 2025, the Ukraine Office for Missing Persons under Special Circumstances estimates that 80,000 Ukrainians are missing. This year, more than 10,000 remains of fallen service members have been returned from Russia. Many of the remains are returned mutilated and co-mingled.

 

These numbers are humbling. No country in the world could meet this scale of need for DNA expertise, particularly in the three years since the full-scale invasion while fighting an ongoing war. Numerous DNA laboratories around the world—including government, academic, intergovernmental, and commercial laboratories—have offered support to enable the expansion of Ukrainian technological capabilities. Ukraine now has over 20 institutions with DNA profiling equipment, some with rapid DNA instruments, others with full genome sequencing capabilities.

 

Efforts to improve missing persons processes are also underway. The missing persons reporting systems have been streamlined to a common system as of May 2025. As of January 2024, all enlisted military service members provide an optional pre-emptive DNA specimen in case they become missing in action. At least a quarter of all service members are enrolled as of August 2025, and efforts are underway to increase enrollment at the frontlines.

 

Despite this, numerous obstacles impede identifications, both in outreach to families of missing children and in streamlining identifications of the deceased. In this presentation, we will lay out these challenges, how resources are being implemented into workflows, and the current needs for DNA resources and expertise.

 

We implore the international DNA forensics community to come together to address the human rights and humanitarian need of victims of the Russia-Ukraine war.

  • Early Registration
  • $250.00
  • Standard Registration (after July 15)
  • $295.00
  • Student Registration$195.00
  • $195.00

Workshop currently at capacity. A waitlist is available to join on our registration page.

Brought to you by

Worldwide Association of Women Forensic Experts

Sara Huston

Co-founder and President, DNA Bridge

Sara Huston is co-founder and president of DNA Bridge, a non-profit organization focused on the use of DNA for global family reunifications. She is also a Research Assistant Professor at Northwestern University and the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago with almost 20 years of research on the ethical, legal, and social implications of genetics. Her academic research currently focuses on genetic applications in humanitarian efforts, medicine, and law enforcement and her career focus is on the ethical approaches to using DNA technologies in human rights and humanitarian identifications.

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