‘I could be searching for him my whole life’

Why are the families of missing Russian soldiers asking the courts to declare them dead?

Families of Russian soldiers who’ve gone missing in the war in Ukraine are often left with no way of knowing what happened to their loved ones and no body to bury. Whether relatives are still holding on to hope or certain of the worst, the situation has practical implications as well: without a death certificate, there’s no way to access survivor benefits or settle the person’s affairs. Russian military leadership has been pressuring families to have missing soldiers declared dead in court and move on. The independent news outlet iStories calculated how many families have pursued this process and learned the reasons some have for doing so. Meduza shares a retelling in English.

No proof, no payments

Magomed Kalimatov, from the Russian republic of Ingushetia, went missing in Ukraine at the very beginning of the full-scale war. His parents, wife, and six children were waiting for him at home. In March 2023, his family told a local TV station that despite not hearing from Kalimatov for over a year, they remained hopeful that he was still alive. Exactly two months later, Kalimatov’s father filed in court to have his son declared dead. “My son has five dependent children. When he went to the training ground, he didn’t know about the planned special military operation, which was announced only later,” Kalimatov’s father explained to the court. “And the card he got his salary on was with him.”

The family also brought up statements from Kalimatov’s fellow servicemen who, after returning from captivity, said that he’d been with them when they came under fire near the village of Malynivka in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, which the Ukrainian army liberated at the end of March 2022. Neighbors also came to court and testified that they’d “known [Magomed] since childhood” and that he’d been sent to Ukraine. The court ruled to declare Kalimatov dead. However, even after this, his name didn’t appear in any obituaries and local officials still pay official visits to “the family of Magomed Kalimatov, who’s been listed as missing for a long time.” In reports, they write that “his relatives are still in the dark [about his fate] and live in hope that he’ll return home.”

By comparing the number of declarations of presumed death before and after the start of the full-scale war, iStories calculated that 921 Russian soldiers who went missing in Ukraine have been ruled deceased by the courts. Families have to argue why it’s necessary to have their loved ones declared dead. Judging by records from proceedings, the majority say they need the documentation for financial reasons: to “receive payments and benefits from the Defense Ministry,” “claim inheritance rights,” and “close out [the deceased’s] debts.”

Marina Andreeva went to court to have her husband, a BARS unit volunteer, legally recognized as deceased. His fellow soldiers saw him get hit but were unable to retrieve his body because they were under shelling. She asked the judge to issue the declaration immediately, saying she was “in dire financial straits and had dependents,” and the court granted her request. “We can’t get payments or death benefits. They refuse everything unless you have a death certificate,” another family said in court.

Some insist that their family members be officially recognized as “killed in action” so that they’re granted official “combatant” status, even if they fought as volunteers. According to one mother, this would entitle her son’s widow and children to payments they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. She even brought photos “from the scene” to court to prove he died on the battlefield.

Others say they’re turning to the courts out of despair. “This decision was incredibly difficult for me, incredibly,” says Irina (name changed), whose son disappeared in Ukraine at the very beginning of the war. “They advised me to do this a year earlier, called me from the military prosecutor’s office and said that my son had died and that they were ready to declare him dead [in court]. I was against it. I said, ‘Until I find his body — dead or alive — I won’t do it.’” Irina says she went to Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine to look for her son. She spoke with locals and visited hospitals, but she found nothing. According to her, Russian officials have done nothing to help.

“For a year and a half, I’ve been searching. At least to find some hint, at least to learn how my son went missing, what happened to him. They were the first into [Ukraine]; it was an order — he was a young boy who didn’t know what to do. He turned 20 [there],” Irina explains. “I’m still looking for him. But I understand that he died. I understand that I could be searching for him my whole life. It’s not so much about the money, I just wanted some kind of closure.”

‘We can’t even mourn’

Sometimes families are certain their loved ones are dead, but there’s no way to get the body. Fellow soldiers may have been forced to abandon it on the battlefield, or it might be impossible to locate, even in Russian-controlled territory. Some hope to retrieve the remains “when the war is over.” “The grief is unbearable… we can’t even mourn as parents because they still haven’t recovered our boy’s body,” wrote the mother of 26-year-old Stepan Kiselyov, whom she had to declare dead in court.

Svetlana Chignaeva’s husband was drafted in the fall of 2022. In December 2023, she went to court to have him declared dead. “They still haven’t brought my husband back to me, and I’m left alone with three underage children,” she explains. A fellow soldier told Svetlana that her husband was sent into battle as part of an assault group and never returned.

A report from the battalion’s commander corroborates this: “He remained on the battlefield, showing no signs of life. Comrades repeatedly tried to reach the body of the deceased, but finding themselves under heavy mortar fire, they were forced to retreat. Therefore, they could not retrieve the private’s body.” The court stated that even though he was killed in Russian-controlled territory, the “whereabouts of the body are unknown.” Svetlana finds it hard to believe that her husband’s body will be brought home: “They give some hope, but it’s unlikely. I understand that these are all just standard phrases.”

Inna Averina still hopes to find the body of her 18-year-old brother “when the war is over.” “He’s been gone for two years; we know perfectly well that he died, we proved everything in court,” she says. Inna lost contact with her brother a few days before the full-scale invasion. He was on compulsory military service and, on February 21, 2022, he signed a contract. “That same day, after a call from the airport, we lost contact,” Inna told the court. Later, she learned that he went missing at the end of March in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. At the trial, the military prosecutor’s office only read out a statement: “Due to the constant movement of military units and the lack of permanent communication, it is not possible to determine the whereabouts of [Inna’s brother].”

In some cases, there’s nothing left for families to bury. In a court hearing about Alla Ostaeva’s husband, they read out a statement from a fellow soldier who witnessed his death: “A shell hit the ditch where [he] and his comrades were, followed by an explosion. After the shelling ended, about half an hour later, [soldiers] approached the position and inspected the ditch, but they found nothing more than scraps of military uniforms.”

In courts, military prosecutors and unit commanders often report Russian soldiers whose bodies were left in Ukraine as dead. “Due to mortar fire, it was not possible to retrieve the body,” they say. They give the number of the trench and the nearest address.

Story by Sonya Savina