Where to turn if soldiers are taken prisoner

Attorney Marisa Skuba and lawyer Serhiy Lankin of Barristers LLP have prepared practical advice for the families of prisoners of war.

What should you do if a soldier is taken prisoner?
While defending their homeland, some of our soldiers, unfortunately, are taken prisoner. And every relative of a prisoner of war tries to expedite their loved one’s return home.
Below, attorney Marisa Skuba and lawyer Serhiy Lankin from the law firm  “Barristers” provide a step-by-step guide that families can follow to notify the relevant authorities and gather essential documents to monitor the soldier’s status in captivity, based on their practical experience assisting families of prisoners of war.
1. Contact the military unit.
The primary source of information regarding a soldier’s disappearance will be the military unit where he is serving.
Since the locations of military units are unknown during martial law, you must contact the Territorial Coordination Center (TCC) and the Military Registration and Enlistment Office (MREO) or the Ministry of Defense, which will officially forward your inquiry to the unit’s current deployment location.
If you wish to obtain information from the military unit regarding the servicemember, you must submit all requests in writing or consult a lawyer to file a formal legal request for information.
You must attach copies of documents confirming your family ties to the servicemember to the letter.
Through these requests, the servicemember’s family can obtain the following from the military unit
: - a certificate detailing the circumstances of the servicemember’s capture;
- copies of the official investigation report and investigation materials regarding the capture;
- excerpts from the servicemember’s personnel file or orders pertaining to him;
- other documents related to his military service.
These documents are necessary for communicating with all other agencies, which will be discussed below.
We also recommend providing the military unit with the servicemember’s family’s current bank account information so that they can receive financial support in the amount of 100,000 UAH for the duration of the servicemember’s captivity.
2. Notify the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and the National Information Bureau (NIB) of the capture.
First, you must enter the individual’s details into the NIB registry and provide all information you have about your family member who is likely in captivity via the Telegram bot @nib_uncp_bot.
You should also send a written notification to the NIB or the Coordination Headquarters. You can do this using the contact information (phone number or email) listed on the websites: https://koordshtab.gov.ua/ and https://nib.gov.ua/.
You must provide the authorized agencies with all the information you have in full detail, along with supporting documents. This information includes, in particular:
1. Full name, military rank, and the military unit or subunit where the servicemember is serving.
2. The circumstances under which the servicemember was taken prisoner.
3. Marital status, presence of children, dependents, etc.
4. Photos and video footage, physical characteristics, and notable achievements.
5. Other circumstances, details, and documents that make it possible to identify the servicemember.
Currently, the NIB classifies servicemembers in the registry into two categories
: - Missing in action.
- Captured.
According to the Coordination Headquarters, all these categories are rather general and may change as the servicemember’s whereabouts are confirmed, particularly upon receiving official confirmation from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
3. Notify law enforcement agencies of the servicemember’s disappearance.
Registering a criminal case regarding the capture of a servicemember is an additional legal procedure that can help the family gather information about his disappearance.
To initiate proceedings (entering information into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations, or ERDR), any relative may submit an oral or written statement to any police department, providing a detailed account of the circumstances of the servicemember’s disappearance and submitting relevant documents.
Within 24 hours of receiving the application, a law enforcement official is required to enter the information into the registry, notify the relative (the applicant) of this, and provide an extract from the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations (URPI) containing the criminal case number.
Relatives must be recognized as victims and receive an information sheet outlining the rights and obligations of victims, which enables them to access the materials of the pre-trial investigation and submit documents to the case file.
We strongly recommend asking the investigator to collect biological samples (DNA data) from relatives for molecular genetic testing, which ensures that the relatives’ DNA is entered into the unified expert database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. Law enforcement agencies cross-check this database every time they recover the bodies of fallen defenders. These steps will help ensure that the family is promptly notified if a DNA match is confirmed.
It is also important to know the investigator’s full name and to keep their contact information.
If the investigator fails to enter the information into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations (URPI) following your request, you should consult a lawyer to challenge the investigator’s inaction through legal proceedings.
4. Establishing the fact of captivity through the Ministry of Reintegration.
Since Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine has been ongoing for nine years, we have already developed a series of procedures for officially establishing the fact of captivity and providing the captive and their relatives with social guarantees and financial support.
The authorized body for establishing the fact of captivity is the Commission on Establishing the Fact of Deprivation of Personal Liberty as a Result of Armed Aggression Against Ukraine, under the Ministry for the Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories.
Relatives of a servicemember who has been officially recognized as being held captive as a result of Russian aggression are eligible for annual financial assistance in the amount of 100,000 UAH. A similar payment is provided to the servicemember upon his release from captivity.
In addition, the military personnel’s relatives are entitled to compensation for attorney’s fees related to the Commission’s determination of the fact of captivity. The application form for the Commission is established by law; an example can be found at https://docs.google.com/.../1GkyGEcspkpjhgMhlarPYfW1sUnRO....
One of the following documents should be attached to this application:
1. An official certificate of captivity in the prescribed form (issued by the military unit after the servicemember is entered into the NIB registry).
2. A copy of an extract from the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations.
3. Other certificates or documents providing grounds for establishing that the servicemember is in captivity.
Within one month of receiving the application and the accompanying documents, the commission will inform the relatives of its decision (confirming the fact of deprivation of personal liberty).
We would like to emphasize the importance of maintaining confidentiality. Do not post photos of the servicemember in military uniform on social media that include the location of their last known whereabouts or the military unit number. This could endanger the servicemember’s health or life. There are cases where local residents hide soldiers, or where soldiers attempt to break out of an encirclement on their own while wearing civilian clothing. In some cases, the dissemination of information about a soldier gives the enemy grounds to terrorize and blackmail his relatives and loved ones. There are widespread cases of the occupiers demanding money in exchange for the proper treatment of prisoners of war.
We cannot even begin to imagine the pain felt by every family of a captured Ukrainian. The actions listed above will not be able to alleviate that pain, but they can create the necessary conditions to monitor and gather information about a soldier’s whereabouts and health, and to establish communication with the relevant authorities. And this organized information will help these authorities secure the soldier’s release from captivity.
We thank the team at the “Barristers” Law Firm for preparing this material and for their assistance to the families of our defenders.