Putin's cousin reveals classified figures on missing soldiers
No fewer than 48,000 Russians involved in the war against Ukraine have disappeared without a trace. This figure was mentioned during a roundtable at the State Duma by the Russian Deputy Defence Minister, Anna Cywileva, a cousin of the Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
"The numbers concerning the missing should not appear anywhere, as this is classified information," added the Russian Deputy Defence Minister during the session when her colleagues pointed it out to her.
Putin's cousin's blunder: Disclosed classified data
The roundtable of the Commission for Labour, Social Policy and Veterans' Affairs on "Ensuring Legislative Social Support for Participants of the Special Military Operation and Members of Their Families (Problems and Solutions)" took place on 26 November.
The event was streamed on the official State Duma website, but the recording was not preserved. However, a reader of the ASTRA channel managed to save the material.
During the event, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anna Cywileva, said to be a cousin of Vladimir Putin, also spoke. She stated that currently, all men signing a contract with the Ministry of Defence are required to undergo a DNA test. This data is then entered into the Ministry of Internal Affairs database.
"We also collect DNA from relatives, which is also added to the database. The number of relatives who have reached out to us stands at 48,000," added Cywileva.
Kartapolov: These are highly sensitive details
In response, the Chairman of the State Duma Defence Committee, Andrei Kartapolov, warned her: "Colleagues, I strongly urge that these numbers concerning the missing do not appear anywhere. These are highly sensitive details. When preparing the final documents, I also ask that these numbers do not appear," he emphasised.
Cywileva clarified that she reported the number of applications, not the missing.
It remains unclear whether Cywileva was referring to 48,000 relatives of missing soldiers who provided their DNA or a collective database of relatives of military personnel operating in the war zone.
However, as Astra highlights, relatives of Russian soldiers have previously reported that free DNA submission was only available if the soldier was officially granted "missing" status. Families of soldiers also confirmed this.
Meanwhile, the website of the Irkutsk Human Rights Ombudsman stated that DNA could only be provided if the soldier had been declared missing.
