The wave of the missing. First half of 2025 sees more claims for MIA and KIA soldiers in courts than the whole previous year

Since the start of 2025, Russian courts have received 26,000 claims for recognizing people as missing. Taking into account last year, the number of such claims is approaching 50,000. The vast majority of these claims are related to the war against Ukraine, and they are filed by military units and commanders. This is necessary in order to clear the personnel lists for the recruitment of new fighters.

Russian district and garrison military courts received more than 26,000 lawsuits to declare a person missing or dead in 2025. This is more than in the whole of 2024: at that time these claims amounted to 22.6 thousand. This is evidenced by Mediazona count of case records on court websites.

Earlier Mediazona has already described how in 2024, commanders of military units began filing lawsuits to recognise soldiers as missing and dead in order to free up places in the personnel lists.

The wave of claims started to rise in the second half of 2024—and picked up pace even more in 2025.

Just like beforet, courts often withhold information on such cases: instead of the names of applicants or third parties, court websites show the note “Information concealed”. In total, since the beginning of 2024, 18.9 thousand such applications have already been accumulated.

For example, information is hidden in all 2.7 thousand claims that have been filed over a year and a half with the Oktyabrsky District Court near Rostov, in the south of Russia, an absolute record-breaker among all courts for missing persons claims. Back in January 2025, the court’s press service confirmed to Mediazona that representatives of the nearest military units brought bundles of claims to the judges.

In 11.8 thousand claims it is explicitly stated that the commander of a particular military unit asks to recognise a person as missing or dead. Another 8.9 thousand cases mention some structure of the Defense Ministry.

This means that nearly 23,500 claims are definitely related to military dead. Two-thirds of the “hidden” claims in 2024-2025 are clearly excessive compared to previous years: this gives another 12-13 thousand “extra” claims that are related to the war.

So, by mid-2025, between 30 and 40 thousand Russian servicemen were filed in courts as missing or dead.

In 2025, the list of units that filed the most claims has also changed. Last year, the largest number of claims were made for the 254th and 488th Motorized Rifle Regiments. By the middle of 2025, brigades created in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic after its annexation by Russia are in the lead, with the 1st Slavyansk Brigade (596 claims) on the top of the list.

Editor: Maxim Litavrin