Employees of the Russian Red Cross (RRC) have received more than 5,000 requests to search for their relatives with whom ties were cut off after the invasion of the Kursk Region by the Ukrainian armed forces, RRC representative Anzhelika Rudenko told RBC.

She noted that the number of respective petitions does not match the number of sought missing persons because more than one petition can be submitted for one person; for example, mother and daughter can search for the person at the same time.

Around 800 family ties have been restored so far. But this number also does not correspond to the number of people found because one person could be reunited with several relatives. However, the number of those found reaches 800, says Rudenko.

They try to accept petitions to the RRC mainly from close relatives, but sometimes they accept also from neighbors if they are looking for an elderly person who has no relatives. In addition, there are petitions from business leaders regarding the disappearance of their employees.

"If we don't have a petition for this person and we can't identify his relatives, then we will accept a petition from the manager to somehow start a search for the person," Rudenko explained.

"We transmit information so that people can be evacuated from dangerous areas as quickly as possible," the RRC representative said.