“There is no trace of my father.” Stories of people who are forced to prove the death of their relatives because there is no body left

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Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, more than 23,000 Ukrainians are considered missing under the wording “under special circumstances.” Among them are, in particular, those who disappeared during Russia’s missile and bomb attacks. The fate of such people is officially unknown. Although relatives will confidently say: they died. However, proving this is an extremely difficult task. Next – stories of relatives and advice and explanations of the lawyer. “I know that his ashes are where he died” Oleksandr Chuvashin, photo provided by Zoya Chuvashina On March 3, 2022, in Okhtyrka, Sumy Oblast, five people died as a result of an airstrike on the thermal power plant. Three of them could not be found. In particular, Oleksandr Chuvashyn – an electrical fitter for the repair and maintenance of automation and measuring devices of the 5th category. “Sasha went to work at 8 a.m., I called him at around 2 p.m., he said that everything was fine. And around 5 p.m., we saw a plane flying. It was flying so low, and in the direction of the CHP plant. In seconds 10, I heard an explosion. We can see the station from the garden, from there near the pipes such gray-yellow smoke began to rise. I immediately thought about Sasha, I started to call him – the subscriber was unavailable. Then my daughter called and said that the CHP plant was bombed. Yes, my Sasha never came home again,” says Zoya Chuvashina, Oleksandr’s wife. Consequences of the attack on the Okhtyr thermal power plant, photo from Wikipedia. A Russian aerial bomb, probably FAB-500, hit the boiler, which was being repaired by the brigade. Oleksandr Chuvashin was among the workers. The bodies of the man and two of his colleagues did not remain. After the death, Alexander’s family faced difficulties in the process of proving the fact of his death. “We were issued a death certificate only on December 6, 2022. We did a DNA analysis for a long time, because remains were still found at the site of the explosion. My daughter and I submitted biomaterials, waited, but everything was fruitless (no matches were found, the death certificate was issued on on the basis of the court decision. – author.) They didn’t give us anything for work, they said that there should be some big compensation and they said – wait. So we waited. Finally, when the death certificate was issued, I went with him to the social security, and there they say – we need an act of investigation of a criminal case, but we only had a temporary one. Then we were given this act, but then the social insurance reform began, and the cases were transferred to the pension fund. And we waited again, and now we are also waiting (when the pension fund will consider the case – author)”, says Zoya Chuvashyna. Memorial to those killed at Okhtyrskaya TPP, photo by Zoya Chuvashyna Oleksandr Chuvashyna’s mother decided to erect a monument to her son at the cemetery – next to the place where his father is buried. The deceased’s bag with his personal belongings – glasses, a phone charger – was placed in the grave, his wife also placed some candies. Zoya and her daughter visit the memorial at the CHP. “I know that his ashes lie there, at the station where he died. That’s why he’s there for me. And I go there to see him,” says Zoya Chuvashina. “Rescuers found only their documents” On January 14, 2023, at 3:30 p.m., the Russians fired an Kh-22 missile at a residential building at 118 Naberezhna Peremogy Street in Dnipro. 46 people became victims of the terrorist attack. Svitlana Vitalieva lost her father, mother and husband that day. “They went to look at the apartment that my parents bought in December 2022. I was waiting for them for a festive dinner. When the explosion rang out, I realized that it was exactly in the direction where their house was. I stood by the window and waited for their car, but they didn’t go and didn’t go,” says Svitlana. Evgeny Solovyov, Iryna Vitaliyeva, Viktor Vitaliyeva, photo provided by Svitlana Vitalyeva Svitlana’s mother, Iryna, was found under the rubble a few days later. But before the daughter recognized the deceased, her neighbor from the apartment on the floor below had already managed to identify her as his deceased wife. So, at first, the death certificate was issued under a different name. However, after a short investigation, it was possible to obtain the correct documents. Meanwhile, Viktor Vitalyev’s father and Yevhen Solovyov’s husband were never found. “Rescuers found only their documents at the landfill, where the remains of the destroyed house were brought. They took DNA from me and my husband’s brother, compared them with the remains found at the scene of the terrorist attack, but there were no matches,” says Svitlana Vitalieva. Consequences of an X-22 hitting a residential building in Dnipro. Photo of the Office of the President The combat mass of the Russian Kh-22 missile is almost a ton. It consists of a mixture of TNT, hexane and aluminum. The main purpose of the missile is to destroy aircraft carriers and aircraft carrier groups. When the missile hit the side of the target ship, a hole with a diameter of 22 meters and a depth of up to 12 meters was formed in it. Nothing remained of the entrance of the house in Dnipro, where the rocket hit. The process of recognizing Svetlana’s relatives as dead lasted less than half a year. “There was a lot of support from the city authorities: both legally and in general, everyone was helpful. Everything was free of charge, without even a hint of paying. I contacted the lawyers sometime in mid-March. At first, they received a report that they had disappeared The judges promised that they would resolve everything as quickly as possible. And it happened. The lawyer was constantly in touch, reminding me which documents to bring and which to collect. Everything was very prompt,” says Svitlana Vitalieva. She plans to put a bench named after her dead husband on the Dnipro embankment. “From the father – no trace” Yuriy Abakumov, photo from the family archive On March 2, 2022, a Russian aircraft dropped an FAB-250 aerial bomb on a nine-story residential building at 359 Tsentralna Street in the city of Borodyanka, Kyiv Region. 60-year-old Yurii Abakumov lived there on the fifth floor with his wife. “Dad was after three strokes, he couldn’t move on his own, his mother took care of him. When there were air raids, she went down to the basement, and there was no one to carry dad down. On March 2nd, mom went down to the shelter during the alarm, 5 or 10 minutes before the impact, everyone came out into the air from the basement of the house, and my mother said – while we left, I will go up and see how Yura is. And as soon as she entered the entrance and got up, a bomb flew,” said Yevhen Abakumov, son of Yury Abakumov. A residential building in Borodyanka after being hit by a FAB-250. Social Having broken through nine floors of a residential building, the FAB-250 exploded on the first floor, destroying the entire entrance. “I was in Kremenchuk at that time, I tried to call my parents all day, but they were out of reach. When Borodyanka was released, I immediately went to see my parents. Then a neighbor called me and said that they had found my mother’s body. There is no information about my father was,” says Yevhen Abakumov. The son passed DNA tests for identification several times, wrote statements to the police and SBU. However, no trace of his father could be found. Most likely, the man’s body was vaporized during the bomb explosion. To this day, Yuriy Abakumov is considered missing. The son complains that he had no assistance from the state and law enforcement agencies. His appeals remained unanswered, he was not provided with legal assistance from local authorities, and he did not have the funds to hire a private lawyer. Explanations and advice of a lawyer Oleksiy Yasyunetskyi, lawyer. Photo – Zhytomyr.online Human rights defender and lawyer Oleksiy Yasyunetskyi explains why the cases of recognition of people who disappeared as a result of Russian missile and bomb attacks are complicated and long-lasting. “Forensic experts are overloaded with work, and without their opinion, investigators cannot close a criminal case. Time goes by, some point to others, such cases can be considered for a year or more, and this extremely slows down the process,” says Oleksiy Yasyunetskyi. The lawyer emphasizes that a person who has disappeared can be recognized as dead only by a court that analyzes the evidence provided for this purpose. After all, it is necessary to prove that the person really died. “After an event – such as an airstrike – a criminal proceeding is opened. Investigators take photos and video of the scene of the event, establish the circumstances. At first, a person is considered missing. For this status, close relatives need to write a wanted report to the National Police, then information about this fact is entered into the Unified Register persons who have gone missing under special circumstances,” says Oleksiy Yasyunetskyi. If human remains are found at the scene of the tragedy, the relatives of the deceased must be given DNA samples for comparison. When, after conducting all the tests, it turns out that there is no match, it is necessary to apply to the court to declare the person dead. The application should be accompanied by evidence that proves the unsuccessful search for the person, information about his last place of residence, as well as reports of hostilities or physical losses at the place of residence. Gathering evidence also involves receiving answers to requests from state authorities that the missing person did not cross the state border at the specified time. It can also be an extract from the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations regarding the registration of a statement about a crime regarding the disappearance or death of a person, photos, videos, media articles about shelling, witness statements. Based on the court’s decision, the state civil registration authority will issue a death certificate. After that, the relatives of the deceased can proceed with the registration of the inheritance and resolve other property issues related to payments and compensations. Search operations at the site of a hit to a residential building in Dnipro. Photo of the State Emergency Service The stories that were mentioned at the beginning of this material show that local authorities play a significant role in speeding up the process of processing all documents. Svitlana Vitalieva repeatedly noted that the Dnipro authorities went to meet the relatives of the victims, provided them with legal support at all stages of the investigation . Instead, Zoya Chuvashina and Yevhen Abakumov emphasized that there was little support from local authorities. This may be due to the fact that at the beginning of the full-scale war, local administrations did not yet have a developed algorithm for helping relatives of the dead under special circumstances. After all, the relatives of Yevhen and Zoya died at the beginning of 2022, and Svitlana lost her relatives almost a year after the start of a full-scale war. Lawyer Yasyunetskyi also emphasizes that the relatives of the victims should also submit applications to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. “This is necessary in order for these atrocities to be given a proper legal assessment, it’s like Nuremberg, the atrocities of the Nazis during the Second World War will be remembered forever. If it didn’t exist, no one would remember them now. The same with Russia – it should have its own Nuremberg, everyone should remember its crimes. It doesn’t matter how long it takes – years or decades – we should submit statements about the dead citizens of Ukraine,” he says. The text was prepared by the Memorial platform, which tells the stories of civilians killed by Russia and dead Ukrainian soldiers, especially for… To report data on Ukraine’s losses, fill out the forms: for dead military and civilian victims. Volodymyr Mysan-Milyasevych, specially for UP. Life

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