At least 15,000 missing due to Russian war on Ukraine, official says

• The announcement by the ICMP, which was created following the Balkan wars of the 1990s, came as Ukraine's government said on Telegram officials had found 50 different locations of mass graves in the recently liberated areas of Mykolaiv and Kherson.

What they're saying: "The numbers are huge and the challenges that Ukraine faces are vast. Besides which they're fighting an ongoing war as well against the Russian Federation," Holliday said to Reuters.

• "The vast majority of missing persons, those deceased, are victims of war crimes, and the perpetrators need to be held responsible."

What we're watching: The ICMP in Kyiv is increasing the capacity of its collection of data and DNA samples in an attempt to secure matches with family members.

• The group's director-general Kathryne Bomberger said in May it "will make it possible to reunite families and will facilitate the prosecution of those accused of war crimes and other human rights violations."
• It builds on the process ICMP officials used to account for over 27,000 of the 40,000 reported missing persons during the Balkan wars and is expected take years.

Go deeper: What counts as a war crime and why they're so hard to prosecute