A single photo can make all the difference: families of missing persons are told why the photos in the Personal Account often determine the outcome of the search.
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reminds everyone that the information relatives provide through the Personal Account can speed up the search for our defenders. Even an ordinary photograph or a picture of distinctive features (tattoos, scars) often becomes the very key that helps comrades identify a person upon their return from captivity.
The Coordination Headquarters and the Dovidka.info project of the SPRAVDI Center for Strategic Communications have prepared an animated video explaining why this is important.
What does this achieve? The photos are shown to defenders who have already returned from captivity. If any of them recognize a person and provide information about them, this information will be verified and taken into account in further search efforts.
“The new tool developed by the Coordination Headquarters makes it possible to simplify and systematize the search for captives and missing persons using photographs. We must seize every opportunity to find and bring our people home. Let’s work together,” explains Petro Yatsenko, head of the press service of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Families of those missing in action and prisoners of war are advised to:
- upload current, high-quality photographs of the person to their Personal Account;
- add photos of distinctive features—tattoos, scars, and other identifying marks;
- check to ensure that all available information about the missing or captured person has been entered.
Without photos, the search becomes much more difficult. Sometimes a single photo can provide new information about the fate of a person whose family is waiting for them at home.
“Behind every photo in the Personal Account is a person whose family is waiting for them at home. Sometimes a single photo can provide an opportunity to identify a comrade and pass on important information to their family. That’s why even a step that seems simple at first glance matters. Each of us can help families find their loved ones: share this short animated video on your social media or send it directly to those it concerns,” said Mykola Balaban, deputy director of the SPRAVDI Center for Strategic Communications.