Russians seek answers over hundreds missing after Ukraine's 2024 incursion

The head of one local village council, Yuri Tkachev, was among volunteers who went to retrieve the bodies of civilians, from the streets or from nearby fields."It's hard for people to know – or rather not to know – what has happened to their loved ones, whether they're being held captive or have died, and where they died," he said.Body bags and fuel for vans taking part in the evacuations were paid for either by the volunteers themselves or with donations, but not by authorities.Although regional officials met the group searching for the missing several times in the second half of 2025, relatives complained it made little difference.Lyubov was still searching for her mother's body, until she visited the mortuary last October during a trip to the regional capital Kursk."I just asked: 'A woman born in 1949 from the village of Darino – are there any unidentified bodies?'"The official turned his laptop screen towards her and immediately she recognised her deceased mother in a photograph from April 2025.She was lying on her side in the street, her knees bent. Lyubov tried not to look too closely. She recognised her mum's face and an old jumper, which she wore while she worked.She had pr...