After every prisoner exchange, information appears about persons missing under special circumstances, which gives their families hope of finding their loved ones, Commissioner for Persons Missing in Special Circumstances Artur Dobroserdov said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.

To the question of whether it is easier to work on searching for missing people after prisoner swaps, he said, "It's easier. After the prisoner exchange, information appears. That is, the relevant services and authorities work with those released to confirm the fact of being in captivity and establish the accompanying circumstances."

"Every exchange is a breath of hope. Even for the relatives of those who have not yet been exchanged. Those released from captivity can confirm to the families, whose relative is in captivity, that he did not die, that he is alive and feels well, as far as it is possible in captivity," the Commissioner said.

He also said that when it comes to missing military personnel, there is an understanding that the person either was killed or is in captivity.

"When it comes to civilians, a person may be on the enemy territory, but under certain conditions the connection with him has been severed," Dobroserdov said.

According to the Commissioner, those who are in captivity continue to be on the register of persons missing under special circumstances.

"Some people think: if it is established that a person is in captivity, then he is not missing, because the whereabouts are known. This is not so. The status of missing indicates under what circumstances this happened. The person will be in the status of missing, until he returns to the territory controlled by Ukraine, or until we are able to communicate with him on the territory of another state with which we have valid international legal agreements," he said.

Dobroserdov also said that the second option for terminating the status is when it is established where exactly the body or remains of the missing person are located, an examination is carried out, based on the results of which the person is identified.