Missing Ukrainian soldiers – mother demonstrates in Odessa

Thousands of Ukrainians are missing or imprisoned by Russia. Relatives are urging the government to do more to bring loved ones home.

Author: Niklas Golitschek, Odessa / t-online

There has been no sign of 25-year-old Nikita Schovkolenko for ten months, and the Ukrainian soldier's relatives want to know what happened to him. Her research was arduous and laborious, but produced almost nothing. That's why frustration is increasingly directed at institutional and military leadership.

A Sunday afternoon in late October, Odessa: Demonstrators who have been gathering for weeks on the busy Derybasiwska Street next to the City Garden from 4 pm on this day have about 200 participants.

They display the faces of their loved ones on banners to the public. They used slogans to commemorate the soldiers of the Azov Brigade, among others. Many members are still being held by Russia after fierce fighting at the steel plant of the same name near Mariupol.

Missing son in military uniform comes to demonstrate

Nikita Shovkolenko's mother, Oksana Rochelde, also mingled with the demonstrators. The 46-year-old woman was wearing her son's military uniform. Then his nickname “Kot” – the cat. His boots were clearly too big for her.

She and a few friends held banners. They want to show the public the faces and names of the people in the 33rd Mechanized Brigade who have sacrificed their lives to defend a free Ukraine.

Inga Schowkolenko remembers her husband's words that their son should grow up under “safe skies.” Russian ballistic missiles and drones will not repeatedly fly through the skies to attack targets in port cities.

In Odessa, residents hold demonstrations every Sunday to commemorate captured and missing soldiers.Image: Niklas Golicek

Until February 24, 2022, as the mother and daughter-in-law described, the family lived a happy life. “It's good, it's great,” affirmed the 26-year-old Schowkolenko.

But that life ended with Russia's major attack on Ukraine. Nikita Zhovkolenko volunteered to join the army on the first day to defend the motherland. A year and a half later, he led a unit of the 33rd Brigade. On December 10, 2023, as part of the counteroffensive on the Southern Front near Zaporozhye, he returned without completing his mission.

Like many others. In early 2024, Ukraine reported that more than 8,000 Ukrainians were imprisoned by Russia, including 1,600 civilians. Now that number may be even higher.

“This is so cruel”

Waiting for information has become an ordeal for two family members, who say they have received only scattered messages since December.

They at least learned what happened that night from survivors of the operation and other comrades in the brigade. “They had to work in teams of four, digging trenches under constant artillery fire and surrounded by Russian riflemen,” mother Oksana said, describing the task. She considered the order to do so a “criminal act”.

The team was hit by a grenade, but from that point on everything was murky. The only returnee was too traumatized to provide details. Nikita looked lifeless, maybe bleeding. However, no one has yet confirmed his death to the family. “It's 50:50 now. Even if it's less, I'll keep hoping,” the 46-year-old affirmed. And added: “My hope will die with me.”

“My hope will die with me,” Oksana Rochelde said.Image: Niklas Golicek

Her daughter-in-law, Inga Schowkolenko, didn't want to assume the worst. “It took me a week to realize that he might have been captured,” Shovkolenko said. Furthermore, they received almost no information from official sources. “The government has done nothing,” the 26-year-old said, criticizing Kyiv's lack of effort.

The International Red Cross was also frustrated because the organization was unable to gain full access to prisoners of war. So far, only 3,500 prisoners of war from both sides have been visited. One party is unable to provide any information when in doubt, while the other party is helpless and unable to do anything. “No one wants to talk to us,” criticized Oksana Rochelde.

Their concerns were initially downplayed. As time went on, the perception grew that Ukraine had done nothing to contribute to the fate of these relatives. “To them, these are just numbers. But to us, it's family: daughters, sons, husbands, wives. It's very brutal,” Rochelder said.

Network of relatives of missing and captured soldiers

Over the months, the two relatives established relationships with other affected people. One such group on social media currently has more than 700 members. With petitions to parliament and the presidential palace and meetings with relevant government agencies still inconclusive, Inga Shokolenko and other relatives have now turned to the European Commission for help.

In mid-October, they brought 3,000 people onto the streets of Kiev in protest. This online work has been therapeutic for her. “I found a new mission,” the 26-year-old said of her commitment to other relatives.

In any case, neither of them wanted to give up hope that Nikita Shokolenko was still alive. Thanks to Qatari mediation, Ukraine recently received a list of missing soldiers and letters from prisoners of war to relatives. Missing soldiers survived again and again, sometimes during prisoner exchanges with Russia.

Inga Schowkolenko has been missing her husband Nikita since December 2023. He was shot during an operation and was never seen again.Image: Niklas Golicek

Russia tortures prisoners

But even in Russian captivity, Ukrainians are not protected from war crimes. Danielle Bell, head of the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMUU), said in March 2024: “Almost every Ukrainian prisoner of war we interviewed described how they were tortured by Russian soldiers or officials during their captivity They.” The group spoke with 60 freed prisoners in December and February.

According to human rights activists, torture methods included electric shocks, beatings and mock executions. According to HRMUU, more than half of them have experienced sexual violence. The group also spoke of “credible accusations” that at least 32 people had been executed during this period alone.

Meanwhile, Shovkolenko still held on to a glimmer of hope in his desperate situation. “Nikita's mobile phone was connected to the network in the occupied territories on April 13,” she said. What exactly does this mean: openness.

Collaboration: Sergey Panashchuk

Sources used:

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