Ukraine has returned more than 500 bodies of dead defenders who were listed as missing, Commissioner on Persons Gone Missing under Special Circumstances Oleh Kotenko said.

"At this time, we have already returned more than 500 bodies of our dead heroes. Just yesterday, we took another 17 bodies ... These are those who were missing," Kotenko said during a roundtable talk at the Ukraine media center on Tuesday in Kyiv.

He also stressed that a lot of people who are considered missing turn out to be alive, many are in captivity.

"We find a lot of people in captivity…," Kotenko noted.

According to him, Ukraine is doing everything to free these people.