Ukrainian mother looking for her only son

They said it is unclear how many people have been forcibly evacuated, how much they are kept in Russia, how long they are alive and separated from their family members, or how many have been killed and buried in mass graves.

Anna Voskoboinnik, an elderly woman in a wheelchair, has no idea where her 38-year-old son, Olexia.

The former soldier has been arrested by Russian forces at a stop point in Kherson three months ago and has since not been released.

Since then, Russian troops have withdrawn from the city, and Periscope has been followed.

Where is he now? I don't know. I would go to the end of the world to find out. He's the only guy. He was always there for me. Now... ”, she said, before she started crying.

It's even harder to search for missing people in areas like Kherson, where communication is still small and mines remain dangerous.

“There is a major problem with communication, especially in rural countries”, Volodymyr Zhudanov, from the Kherson regional administration for missing persons, said.

In Kherson alone, more than 900 people were registered as robbed or missing, the prosecutor's office said.

These include regional politicians, priests and ordinary citizens.

Of that number, 480 have been released, but another 379 remain under Russia's capture.

Almost 400 civilians have been killed in this region, said spokeswoman from the prosecution, Anastasia Vesilovskaya.

But Zhaonov said the number could be higher.

Unofficially, the number could be thousands, if even the dead are counted... We cannot determine the number now. When the entire territory is released, we will be able to have the exact figure”, he said. /Periscopi/