Ukraine creates Telegram channel to facilitate search for missing family and loved ones

Christina Golovko - Journalist, 7 March 2022

It been 12 days since Russia invaded Ukraine. Some people have lost contact with their relatives as the latter may have lost mobile and Internet connection or ended up in the active combat or occupied areas.

For this reason, Ukraine has created Telegram-channel called Poshuk Znyklyh ("Searching for Missing Persons") with operational information about children who have been lost or found.

It is also possible to find missing adults via the channel.

This was reported by the Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov on Facebook.

"This channel was created to search for people who have gone missing during Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022," the description states.

"Search for Missing Persons" only searches for civilians. The information is published in the form of a short reference with a hashtag of the city where the person went missing.

To search for relatives, you need to specify:

•   first and last name of the missing person;
•   their year of birth;
•   the circumstances under which they disappeared;
•   when was the last time you were in contact with them;
•   their contact number;
•   your contact details for feedback.

Messages on the Telegram channel should be sent to one of these contacts:

@oxanakrasilova

@emmashymanovych

@Annavolod

@Jane_Sve

To access the channel, follow the link.

"Search for Missing" is cooperating with Territorial Defence Forces, which also take requests for missing persons or those who have lost contact with relatives.

To enhance the search, you can complete a questionnaire from the Territorial Defence Forces.

At the same time, Ukrainians are asked to check the information with maximum attention as fakes may appear to sow panic among the population.

Earlier, the citizens of Kharkiv created "Nadiia-Bot" (Hope Bot) on Telegram to find people who have disappeared in the city.