Ukraine War Latest: More than 90,000 Ukrainians officially missing due to Russia's war, commissioner says

Key developments on Feb. 26:

• More than 90,000 Ukrainians officially missing due to Russia's war, commissioner says
• Ukraine might have a new Flamingo missile deep strike strategy, experts say
• Russia, Ukraine agree on body exchange, 1,000 fallen Ukrainians brought home
• Russian FPV drone on fiber optic cable reaches Kharkiv for 1st time since start of full-scale invasion, prosecutor's office says

More than 90,000 Ukrainians are officially registered as missing due to Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine's commissioner for missing persons said on Feb. 26.

The figures come as Ukrainian authorities continue efforts to determine the fate of thousands of soldiers and civilians whose whereabouts remain unknown amid ongoing fighting and limited access to Russian-occupied territories.

The figures were first reported by Ukrainska Pravda, citing Commissioner for Missing Persons Artur Dobroserdov.

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Ukraine might have a new Flamingo missile deep strike strategy for inside Russia, experts say

Ukraine has increasingly reported using domestically produced Flamingo cruise missiles since November 2025, with the General Staff most recently saying it hit a key missile factory in Russia.

While the FP-5 Flamingo's actual capability has been a subject of debate, the reported strikes on Russian-occupied territories and deep inside Russia may signal that Ukraine could expand its use of the missiles for attacks on high-value Russian targets.

The General Staff on Feb. 21 confirmed using Flamingo missiles in its overnight attack on the Russian state-owned Votkinsk missile plant, located about 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) from Ukraine.

Kyiv has been vocal about Flamingo since the summer of 2025, with President Volodymyr Zelensky calling it Ukraine's "most successful missile" with a range of 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles). He claimed then that mass production of Flamingo missiles would begin in the winter of 2025-2026.

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Russia, Ukraine agree on body exchange, 1,000 fallen Ukrainians brought home

Ukraine has repatriated the bodies of 1,000 fallen soldiers, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported on Feb. 26.

The exchange comes as talks between Ukraine and the U.S. continue in Geneva, Switzerland, with preparations underway for a new round of trilateral negotiations with Russia that Washington hopes to broker in the coming weeks.

"Law enforcement investigators, together with representatives of Ukrainian expert institutions, will take all necessary measures aimed at identifying the repatriated deceased,"  the Coordination Headquarters said.

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Russian FPV drone on fiber optic cable reaches Kharkiv for 1st time since start of full-scale invasion, prosecutor's office says

Ukraine has detected a Russian FPV (first-person-view) drone for the first time since the start of the full-scale invasion, which managed to reach Kharkiv via a fiber-optic cable, the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office said on Feb. 25.

Fiber-optic drones, which are not affected by electronic warfare, were first deployed on the Ukrainian battlefield in 2024, with their use significantly expanding on both the Russian and Ukrainian sides in 2025.