Experts of Republican Bureau of SME began to form DNA database of relatives of persons who went missing during hostilities in Mariupol

Comments and statements of the Ombudsman Events News

In Mariupol, work on collecting biomaterial samples from relatives of citizens who went missing during the hostilities in the city began. Blood sampling for subsequent molecular genetic testing is carried out in a specially organized laboratory on the basis of city hospital No. 1. The procedure is free-of-charge. Mariupol residents belonging to the first generation of family ties with a person who went missing such as a father, mother and children can apply.  

The database of genotypes of relatives of the missing is being formed by the Republican Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination of the DPR Ministry of Health. The events are held within the framework of the activities of the Interdepartmental Commission for the Search for Missing Persons, Burial Places of the Bodies (remains) of the Deceased (dead) in the zones of armed conflict in Donbass, which is headed by DPR Ombudsman Daria Morozova.

In the future, this will make it possible to establish the identity and fate of the citizens who died in Mariupol and were buried as unknown. Moreover, in the presence of the most complete base of reference samples, the probability of confirming or excluding kinship in the course of a comparative study with the genotypes of unidentified remains increases significantly.

“Identifying of all the dead residents of Mariupol is the most important humanitarian task. From the practice of previous years, we understand how important it is to promptly form a DNA-base. Time passes, relatives may move, and without material for comparison, the identity of the deceased is much more difficult to establish. Therefore, it was decided to open an office for collecting blood samples directly in Mariupol. If necessary, this experience will be extended to other liberated territories,” Human Rights Ombudsman in the DPR, Chairman of the Interdepartmental Commission Daria Morozova emphasized.

The DPR Ombudsman also said that identification is primarily important for the families of the victims. After identification, they will be able to obtain a medical certificate of death, erect a monument on the grave, or exhume the deceased for reburial in the family cemetery.

“The identities of many citizens who died during the fighting in Mariupol have not been established. They are buried as unknown under the corresponding numbers. At the same time, for the purpose of further identification, biomaterial for DNA typing was selected from all the remains. And now it is important to quickly expand the database of samples of possible relatives for comparative analysis. Realizing that not everyone can come to Donetsk to donate blood, the necessary laboratory conditions were created in Mariupol,” Head of the Republican Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination of the DPR Ministry of Health Dmitry Kalashnikov said.