The decision was made at a government meeting yesterday. It provides for the transfer of powers to coordinate the search for missing persons under special circumstances from the Ministry of Reintegration to the Ministry of the Interior.

In turn, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is responsible for the operations of search teams to find the bodies of the dead.

The department decides on the formation of search teams (in coordination with the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War), and determines the procedure for search operations, and the procedure for exhumation.  It will also carry out the removal (exhumation) of the bodies (remains) of deceased persons and their transportation (evacuation) to state-specialized institutions or final burial places.

In addition, some powers regarding the transfer and repatriation of the bodies (remains) of persons killed (deceased) in connection with the armed aggression against Ukraine are transferred to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

It will also negotiate with humanitarian missions, public associations, charitable organizations, and individuals who are in the TOT to search for missing persons.

The Head of the Coordination Center, in turn, decides to approve the list for the transfer and repatriation of bodies (remains), after consultation with the Joint Center and the Office of the Prosecutor General.