Ukraine Launches Chatbot Service For Relatives Of Missing Russian Soldiers

Russian military illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Gobon7699)

JAKARTA - Ukraine is preparing an online chatbot service that allows Russians who have relatives of the lost army in Ukraine to check whether they have been confirmed killed or detained as prisoners of war, officials announced on Wednesday.

Kyiv hopes this action will put pressure on Moscow after 22 months of a massive invasion of Ukraine, as more and more Russian citizens in the country seek answers to the fate of their lost army.

Chatbot, whose name means "I want to find" in Russian, will operate on the Telegram app, which is very popular in Russia and Ukraine.

"Russian citizens can formally apply for this (project) to obtain objective information about their relatives, which are hidden from them by the ruling regime in the Russian Federation," said Andriy Yusov, spokesman for the Ukrainian GUR military intelligence agency.

The project will gather information about missing soldiers from those using chatbots and examine them with a Ukrainian database of Russian soldiers killed, captured or missing.

One of the people presenting the project was Irina Krynina, who introduced herself as a Russian citizen and co-founder of the civilian movement seeking and returning the Russian army.

"If we get the appropriate answer, for example your relatives are held hostage in Ukraine, you can register for consultation and we will hold video calls to confirm (the person's identity)," he said.

"This will provide the possibility for Russia to report to the authorities and, based on this video call, request that (the army) be exchanged."

It is known that Ukraine and Russia had exchanged detainees several times during the war. The biggest one occurred last week, when 230 Ukrainian prisoners, mostly soldiers and six civilians, were returned to Kyiv in exchange for 248 Russian soldiers.