Switzerland pledges comprehensive support to Ukraine for missing persons identification

Swiss officials offered aid to boost Interior Ministry units’ abilities to find and identify bodies of the missing, including providing forensic equipment.

byIryna Voichuk

29/10/2023

2 minute read

Credit: Ukraine’s Interior Ministry

Switzerland pledges comprehensive support to Ukraine for missing persons identification

Switzerland will assist Ukraine’s Interior Ministry in expanding its capabilities to identify individuals missing under special circumstances, as reported by the ministry’s press service on 28 October.

Deputy Interior Minister Leonid Tymchenko and head of the ministry’s Office for Persons Missing Under Special Circumstances Artur Dobroserdov met with representatives of Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the Swiss Embassy in Ukraine on 27 October.

They discussed cooperation on adhering to international humanitarian law norms across Ukraine regarding locating missing persons. Tymchenko outlined the Interior Ministry’s authority in the government system after being tasked by the prime minister with functions previously held by the Ministry for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories.

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Swiss officials Rea Gering and Gaetan Vannay offered aid to boost Interior Ministry units’ abilities to find and identify bodies of the missing, including providing forensic equipment. Switzerland previously gave DNA analysis devices to state forensic centers in Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, and Donetsk oblasts, Dobroserdov noted.

“Police in de-occupied territories are taking stabilization measures, searching for bodies, and launching pre-trial investigations. Our forensic institutions are conducting DNA identification and facial research of missing persons,” he said.

The two sides agreed that continued cooperation is needed to uphold international law standards on identifying missing persons in Ukraine. Interior Ministry representatives said they are ready to provide any information to facilitate Switzerland’s support.

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