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Putin’s Relative Shares Classified Figures on MIA Soldiers in Ukraine

The government has apparently received some 48,000 requests to DNA test unidentified remains.

A senior member of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government disclosed classified information on Russian soldiers who may be missing in action in Ukraine, The Times of London reports. At a recent parliamentary meeting, Anna Tsivileva—who happens to be Putin’s first cousin once removed, in addition to deputy defense minister—said the government had received 48,000 requests from soldiers’ relatives seeking to DNA test unidentified remains. Russia has not been publicizing casualties in the war, though efforts by Russian media to tally the deaths estimate that nearly 80,000 soldiers have died since fighting began. As the conflict drags on, families of the missing have been lobbying for answers on their loved ones’ whereabouts. Per The Times, Andrei Kartapolov, who leads the parliamentary defense committee, asked those present “not to mention these numbers anywhere,” adding: “This is classified information and quite sensitive.” To which Tsivileva reportedly responded: “I did not name the number of missing persons, but the number of requests to us. Many of them will be found.”