The Ukrainian Missing Persons' Hotline

[George K]

And Russian relatives are calling:

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/07/europe/ukraine-hotline-russian-soldiers-intl-cmd/index.html

"Hello hotline, is this the place that you can find out if a person is alive?"
These are excerpts from audio recordings made to a Ukrainian government-run hotline. Mothers and fathers, wives, siblings and others are engaged in a desperate search for their loved ones as Russia's war with Ukraine extends seemingly without end.
The shaky voices at the end of the line are not calling to search for Ukrainians, however -- they are looking for information on Russian soldiers.
In recordings shared exclusively with CNN by the Ukrainian officials operating the hotline, the desperation and uncertainty in the callers' voices sheds light on how tightly Moscow is controlling communications about the war.
The recordings indicate that many Russian soldiers seemed to not have known what their plans were or why they were being deployed, and bolster reports of Russian soldiers being denied communication with their families.