Mykola Melenets, 37, looks on as his mother, Nina Melenets, 62, cries over the coffin of her son, Oleksandr Melenets, 44, who his family says was killed in shelling, in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. Nina is still looking for her husband, Serhiy, who has been missing since late March. "It will be easier for our hearts if they match the DNA," she said. "We spent 44 years together. We spent our whole lives together." REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

Mykola Melenets, 37, comforts his mother Nina Melenets, 62, as the coffin of his brother and her son, Oleksandr Melenets, 44, who his family says was killed in shelling, is lowered into a grave in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. Nina is still looking for her husband, Serhiy, who has been missing since late March. "It will be easier for our hearts if they match the DNA," she said. "We spent 44 years together. We spent our whole lives together." REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Mykola Melenets, 37, comforts his mother Nina Melenets, 62, as the coffin of his brother and her son, Oleksandr Melenets, 44, who his family says was killed in shelling, is lowered into a grave in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. Nina is still looking for her husband, Serhiy, who has been missing since late March. "It will be easier for our hearts if they match the DNA," she said. "We spent 44 years together. We spent our whole lives together." REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

Nina Melenets, 62, shows an old photo on her phone of her son, Oleksandr Melenets, 44, from 1997 when he was doing military service in Bakhmut, in Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 2, 2022. Melenets says that Oleksandr was killed in shelling in their village. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

A tank lies on its side next to a bridge, in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

A former Russian checkpoint remains in a street in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Nina Melenets, 62, stands outside her destroyed home, in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. Even though Russian forces have been driven back from the area and Ukraine now controls the territory, Nina and her surviving son Mykola Melenets, 37, doubt they will ever return for good. "We could come home but now there is nothing there. Our village is totally destroyed", said Mykola. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Mykola Melenets, 37, stands inside the destroyed home of his deceased brother, Oleksandr Melenets, 44, who his family says was killed in shelling in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. Even though Russian forces have been driven back from the area and Ukraine now controls the territory, Mykola and his mother Nina doubt they will ever return for good. "We could come home but now there is nothing there. Our village is totally destroyed", said Mykola. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Nina Melenets, 62, reacts as she looks at the exact spot where she says her son, Oleksandr Melenets 44, was killed in shelling outside his home in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. Melenets is still looking for her husband, Serhiy, who has been missing since late March. "It will be easier for our hearts if they match the DNA," she said. "We spent 44 years together. We spent our whole lives together." REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Nina Melenets, 62, shows a photo on her phone of her missing husband Serhiy Melenets, 65, in Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 2, 2022. Melenets is still looking for Serhiy, who has been missing since late March. Her surviving son has given DNA samples to forensic experts to see if there is a match among the bodies exhumed from a mass grave nearby in the city of Izium. "It will be easier for our hearts if they match the DNA," she said. "We spent 44 years together. We spent our whole lives together." REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Lab staff work inside a mobile DNA laboratory run by the Ukrainian Prosecutor Generals Office provided by the government of France from the Gendarmerie Scientifique to take DNA samples to match families with bodies found in a mass grave, in Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 2, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Anna Ozerianska, 61, wife of the missing Oleksandr Ozerianskyi, stands in the pantry in her home, in the village of Levkivka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, October 20, 2022. Ozerianska says Oleksandr was taken away by pro-Russian forces on April 12 and has not been heard from since. She has put up posters around Izium hoping that someone may have heard something about his fate. "Sometimes I wake up early in the morning, I have to get up, but I don't know where to start," she said. "I bury my head in my pillow and think, what should I do now?" REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

Nina Melenets, 62, cries as the doors of a van opens to reveal a coffin containing her son Oleksandr Melenets, 44, who his family says was killed in shelling in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. Melenets is still looking for her husband, Serhiy, who has been missing since late March. "It will be easier for our hearts if they match the DNA," she said. "We spent 44 years together. We spent our whole lives together." REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Mykola Melenets, 37, writes the name of his brother, Oleksandr Melenets, 44, who his family says was killed in shelling, on a cross that marks his grave in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

The grave of Oleksandr Melenets, 44, who his family says was killed in shelling, is seen in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

A destroyed car with the letter 'Z' painted on it is seen near the destroyed home of Oleksandr Melenets, 44, who his family says was killed in shelling in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium. Ukraine, Kharkiv region, November 3, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Unused rockets lie on the ground in front of a destroyed home, in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

A child's drawing of a tank is seen among the debris in the home of Oleksandr Melenets, 44, who his family says was killed in shelling in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

A cross lies over the grave of a person exhumed from an improvised cemetery in Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, October 19, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

A cross lies in the empty grave of a person exhumed from an improvised cemetery in Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, October 19, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Anna Ozerianska, 61, wife of the missing Oleksandr Ozerianskyi, speaks with a staff member at the missing persons administration office, in Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, October 19, 2022. Ozerianska says Oleksandr was taken away by pro-Russian forces on April 12 and has not been heard from since. She has put up posters around Izium hoping that someone may have heard something about his fate. "Sometimes I wake up early in the morning, I have to get up, but I don't know where to start," she said. "I bury my head in my pillow and think, what should I do now?" REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Anna Ozerianska, 61, wife of the missing Oleksandr Ozerianskyi, moves the door of her underground shelter, at her home in the village of Levkivka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, October 20, 2022. Ozerianska says Oleksandr was taken away by pro-Russian forces on April 12 and has not been heard from since. She has put up posters around Izium hoping that someone may have heard something about his fate. "Sometimes I wake up early in the morning, I have to get up, but I don't know where to start," she said. "I bury my head in my pillow and think, what should I do now?" REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Photographs of a missing man, Oleksandr Ozerianskyi, sit on a table in the home of his wife Anna Ozerianska, 61, in the village of Levkivka, on the outskirts of Izium, Ukraine, October 20, 2022. Ozerianska says Oleksandr was taken away by pro-Russian forces on April 12 and has not been heard from since. She has put up posters around Izium hoping that someone may have heard something about his fate. "Sometimes I wake up early in the morning, I have to get up, but I don't know where to start," she said. "I bury my head in my pillow and think, what should I do now?" REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Anna Ozerianska, 61, wife of the missing Oleksandr Ozerianskyi, shows notes her husband kept on the rabbits he bred and labels for vegetables he was growing, at her home in the village of Levkivka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, October 20, 2022. Ozerianska says Oleksandr was taken away by pro-Russian forces on April 12 and has not been heard from since. She has put up posters around Izium hoping that someone may have heard something about his fate. "Sometimes I wake up early in the morning, I have to get up, but I don't know where to start," she said. "I bury my head in my pillow and think, what should I do now?" REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Anna Ozerianska, 61, wife of the missing Oleksandr Ozerianskyi, tends to the rabbits that Oleksandr bred, at her home in the village of Levkivka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, October 20, 2022. Ozerianska says Oleksandr was taken away by pro-Russian forces on April 12 and has not been heard from since. She has put up posters around Izium hoping that someone may have heard something about his fate. "Sometimes I wake up early in the morning, I have to get up, but I don't know where to start," she said. "I bury my head in my pillow and think, what should I do now?" REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Lab staff work inside a mobile DNA laboratory run by the Ukrainian Prosecutor Generals Office provided by the government of France from the Gendarmerie Scientifique to take DNA samples to match families with bodies found in a mass grave, in Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 2, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Nina Melenets, 62, cries in a car as she waits for the delivery of the coffin containing her son, Oleksandr Melenets, 44, who his family says was killed in shelling in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. Melenets is still looking for her husband, Serhiy, who has been missing since late March. "It will be easier for our hearts if they match the DNA," she said. "We spent 44 years together. We spent our whole lives together." REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Family members walk behind the coffin of Oleksandr Melenets, 44, who his family says was killed in shelling, during his funeral in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

The village of Kamyanka is seen damaged, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

An anti-tank landmine is seen near the home of Oleksandr Melenets, 44, who his family says was killed in shelling in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

A shoe is seen amongst the debris in the destroyed home of Oleksandr Melenets, 44, who his family says was killed in shelling in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

A Christmas decoration is seen stuck to a door in the destroyed home of Oleksandr Melenets, 44, who his family says was killed in shelling in the village of Kamyanka, on the outskirts of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, November 3, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Women volunteering in a charity organization peel carrots and potatoes for hot meals that will be donated to local residents and municipal workers who are without electricity or means to buy or make food, in Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, October 19, 2022. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

A tank painted with the letter 'Z' lies at the bottom of a section of a destroyed bridge in Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, October 20, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Destroyed residential apartment buildings are seen in Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, October 20, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

People queue for SIM cards in the town square in Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, October 19, 2022. The Hague-based International Commission on Missing Persons, an intergovernmental organization, estimates that more than 15,000 people have gone missing across Ukraine during the war, including detainees, those separated from their loved ones and people killed and buried in makeshift graves. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne SEARCH "KHARKIV MISSING" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.