Shocking Revelation: Putin’s Relative Exposes True Number of Missing Soldiers

A relative of Russian President Vladimir Putin inadvertently disclosed a confidential figure, potentially shedding light on the official scale of Russia’s war casualties in Ukraine.

By Sheenu Gupta On Dec 5, 2024 Share with new partner:

A relative of Russian President Vladimir Putin inadvertently disclosed a confidential figure that could provide an official perspective on the scale of Russia’s military losses in Ukraine. The independent Astra Telegram channel published a video on Tuesday featuring Anna Tsivilyova, identified as the daughter of Putin’s cousin and a deputy defense minister. In the video, Tsivilyova revealed that the government had received tens of thousands of requests from families seeking to track and identify missing soldiers through DNA testing.

During a meeting with lawmakers, Tsivilyova explained that the Ministry of Internal Affairs offers free DNA testing for relatives and stores their information in a central database. She added, “I’ve already mentioned 48,000,” referring to the number of relatives who had applied to trace missing soldiers. This figure potentially points to a significant number of unaccounted-for soldiers in the conflict.

Her statement prompted an immediate reaction from Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the defense committee, who urged her to avoid sharing such sensitive information publicly. “Anna Yevgenyevna (Tsivilyova) has mentioned figures here, including missing persons. I earnestly ask you not to use these figures anywhere. This is such sensitive, closed information. When we draw up the final documents, we should not include these figures anywhere,” he said.

The incident sheds light on the challenges faced by the Russian government in managing the fallout from the Ukraine conflict and maintaining control over information related to casualties and missing personnel.

In response to the concerns raised about her disclosure, Anna Tsivilyova clarified her remarks, stating, “I didn’t mention the numbers of the missing, but rather the number of appeals to us by relatives.” However, ambiguity remains surrounding the figure of 48,000 that she cited during the meeting. It is unclear whether this number represents the actual count of individual missing soldiers or the total number of requests submitted to the ministry by relatives seeking information about their loved ones.

The lack of clarity has raised questions about the true scale of the missing soldiers and the extent of family appeals to Russian authorities. Furthermore, the authenticity of the video, published by the independent Astra Telegram channel, could not be immediately verified by AFP, leaving room for further investigation into the matter. This uncertainty underscores the difficulty in obtaining accurate information regarding the human cost of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

The independent Astra Telegram channel reported that the exchange involving Anna Tsivilyova occurred during a parliamentary hearing held in late November. Russia’s Defense Ministry later released images and video footage that seemed to correspond to the same meeting, which took place in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, on November 26. However, the specific clip of the exchange mentioned by Astra was not available on any official government websites.

Astra also stated that the hearing had been recorded and was initially live-streamed on the parliament’s official website. This suggests that the content may have been publicly accessible at one point, raising questions about whether the sensitive segment was intentionally excluded or removed from government platforms after the fact. The incident highlights the ongoing challenges in verifying information and accessing unaltered records related to sensitive topics in Russia.

The Russian government closely guards information about the number of soldiers killed or injured in the war in Ukraine, treating casualty figures as a state secret and rarely making them public. Independent investigations, however, have shed light on the scale of losses. According to a report last month by the BBC and the independent Russian news outlet Mediazona, at least 80,000 Russian soldiers have been confirmed dead since the conflict began in February 2022. These figures are based on open-source data, including public records, obituaries, and other verifiable sources.

Despite these findings, the actual death toll is believed to be significantly higher, as many casualties go unreported or are deliberately obscured by authorities.

Similarly, Ukraine has revealed little about its own military losses, maintaining a policy of limited disclosure regarding the human cost of the war. However, independent estimates suggest that tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the ongoing conflict. These figures underscore the immense scale of the war’s human toll on both sides, even as governments strive to control the narrative surrounding the casualties.