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Hundreds of soldiers from the Kola Peninsula are reported missing by their families.

 

Illustration photo: Atle Staalesen

"Please help me find my dad"

Families are warned against sharing information about missing husbands, sons, brothers and fathers on social media. Nevertheless, the Barents Observer found more than 200 soldiers from the three brigades in the Kola Peninsula reported MIA in 2024.

Atle Staalesen

“It is extremely important to observer the information silence and not share names and locations and private information on the internet and social media,” says Yulia Balekhova, leader of the so-called Committee on Families of Soldiers of the Fatherland. 

“Never and under no circumstances report a person missing on Telegram and open social media channels,” she underlines in a podcast. 

 

Yulia Belekhova is head of the so-called Committee on Families of Soldiers of the Fatherland. She has repeatedly visited occupied Ukrainian territories. Photo: Belekhova on VK

According to the Committee leader, a soldier should be reported missing no earlier than two months after the last contact. And then, only through state approved public organisations.

Balekhova has won Vladimir Putin’s praise for her work. In June 2024 she was awarded a state prize for her “outstanding human rights achievements.” According to the Kremlin, Balekhova and her organization has sent more than six tons of humanitarian aid to the frontline, made more than 15,000 camouflage nets and sent more than 42,000 children’s letters and drawings to the front. 

Balekhova has reportedly also herself ‘adopted’ two Ukrainian children from the Luhansk region, and one of her sons is mobilised and engaged in the fighting. 

Despite the warnings from Balekhova and her Committee on Families of Soldiers of the Fatherland, many relatives of missing soldiers continue to post information on open channels.

Many are desperate for news about their beloved ones.

The Barents Observer has searched through a number of social media channels for information about missing men from the brigades in the Kola Peninsula. Among them VK pages such as the "Search for Servicemen and missing in the SVO,” the “Searching for you! Search for missing in the SVO” and the “Search for missing in the SVO.”

We have also looked at VK pages established and operated by former servicemen in the three brigades, the 200th Motorized Rifle Brigade in Pechenga, the 80th Motorized Rifle Brigade in Alakurtti and the 61st Naval Infantry Brigade in Sputnik. 

We found almost 200 soldiers reported missing in the course of 2024. Most likely, they constitute only a portion of the actual total. 

The three brigades have sent thousands of soldiers to the war. The servicemen are from all over Russia, although many come from northern regions like Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Komi.

 

Soldiers from the 200th Motorised Rifle Brigade parading in the Pechenga region before the full-scale attack on Ukraine. Photo: Atle Staalesen

From the very start of the full-scale onslaught, the casualties have been dramatically high. Reportedly, the three brigades lost up to 80 percent of their capacity in less than a year of war. 

According to Ukrainian estimates, the number of dead and wounded Russian soldiers now total more than 850,000. A part of them are from the Kola Peninsula.

Some of the men reported missing will ultimately be found alive, others will be confirmed killed. Many will never be found and remain unidentified bodies on foreign soil. 

And some will be buried in secretive Russian mass graves, like the ones recently discovered on occupied Ukrainian territory. 

 

Most of the relatives searching for their missing men publish notes that include name, call sign, name of unit, as well as special characteristics of the person.

“I look for my daddy who has been out of reach since 12 September,” a women from Syktyvkar, Komi Republic, writes. “He has tattoos on each shoulder and one on the left side of his chest, as well as scars from the albue to the wrist and from the hip to the feet after a car crash,” she adds.

The man was reportedly serving for the 80th Motorized Rifle Brigade in the Dnepr river delta near the Ukrainian city of Kherson.

“Please, if you have any kind of information, then please contact me. More than anything in the world I want my daddy to return home.”

 

Soldiers from the 200th Motorised Rifle Brigade and the 61st Naval Infantry Brigade marching in the border town of Nikel before the full-scale war. Photo: Atle Staalesen

More than anything in the world I want my daddy to return home.”

“I look for my brother who served in the 80th Brigade in the Dnepr area,” another woman writes. “The unit does not say where he is located and searches that I have made have given no results. Nobody wants to say anything. He simply disappeared and we can only guess what has happened,” she writes.

He simply disappeared and we can only guess what has happened

A man, whose son served for the same brigade, says the contract soldiers get hardly any training before deployment at the front. 

“My son went missing about a month after he signed a contract. The training centers provide almost no training at all to the contract soldiers. Sometime, they get only a few days of training in the war sone,” he explains.

“They speak beautiful words only on television,” he underlines.

They speak beautiful words only on television

According to one of the commenters on the VK page, the 80th Brigade situation has had critical losses.

“They say that the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine) had a breakthrough and that the 80th Brigade lost about 80 men,” he writes.

Another women is searching for her brother who reportedly was fighting for the 200th Motorized Rifle Brigade near the Ukrainian city of Chasiv Yar. “I am desperate and don’t know what to do. Please tell me where to go to find him or know about his fate. Any advice will be very appreciated,” the woman writes. 

Some relatives also provide additional information about their men.

“My son serves in the 200th Brigade in the war sone. Not long ago, I heard horrible rumors - they say that he was beaten by his commanders for rejecting to storm enemy position. He understood that the mission would mean certain death and refused to follow order,” a woman writes.

Another woman says that her relative that served in the 200th Brigade was sent to Murmansk after injury and later deployed in the Kursk region. “Since then, all contact ended,” she writes.

A woman from Monchegorsk says that her brother has been missing ever since he underwent rehabilitation in the occupied city of Sevastopol, Crimea.

Many of the men from the 200th Brigade have gone missing near Chasiv Yar.

According to several sources, the situation in the area is terrible.

“The situation in the area of Chasiv Yar raises more and more questions. The losses of the Russian army there are huge, and many of them are unjustified. Soldiers are thrown into badly prepared missions without necessary support and supplies, which leads to catastrophic consequences,” a person writes in a VK page for servicemen from the 200th Brigade.

“Who is responsible for all these lives? Who bears the responsibility for this meaningless massacre?” the person asks.