DNA samples of military personnel to be taken in Ukraine

Ukraine has purchased the equipment for collection and storage of DNA samples of military personnel and law enforcement officers, the press service of the Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories reports.

The pre-collection of genetic material of military personnel serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and law enforcement officers was on the agenda of a meeting with regional coordinators of the Office of the Commissioner on Missing Persons chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister.

The meeting discussed the most urgent issues related to the interaction of coordinators with the National Police, the Security Service of Ukraine, military units, as well as territorial centers of recruitment and social support.

One of the important issues considered was the preliminary collection of genetic DNA material of the military and law enforcement officers.

The Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine reminded that the legislation of Ukraine provided for the mandatory collection of biological material of military personnel, as well as members of voluntary formations of territorial communities.

In compliance with the relevant law, a procedure for collecting samples of human genomic information has already been developed.

The document is currently being approved by the central executive authorities.

The Ministry’s press service reported that a person’s DNA will be digitized and stored in a military personnel’s personal file.

It is noted that appropriate equipment for the collection, digitization and storage of DNA samples has already been purchased.

“Certainly, during the war, it is very important. The genetic material of all our defenders must be stored in a single database of genetic traits. Due to the presence of genetic samples, the process of identification will be simplified,” said Iryna Vereshchuk, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories.

She also expressed hope that relevant authorities will speed up the process of launching this procedure.