The publication "Verstka" reports that relatives of Russian military personnel who went missing during the conflict with Ukraine are forced to register in the "national messenger" Max to identify bodies and receive updates on the results of DNA analyses.
Specifically, at the end of July, the search and rescue unit "Sarmat," which is engaged in locating missing military personnel and interacts with the Center for Reception, Processing, and Dispatch of the Deceased (TsPOOP) in Rostov-on-Don, removed its Telegram bot that provided data on the status of DNA examinations and moved it to Max. On September 12, the unit announced that the bot in the "national messenger" had temporarily suspended operations due to technical issues.
It is explained that this is related to the upcoming transition of the bot creation and management service to the business account on the national messenger platform. As a result, the bot will be disabled for 10 days. "Sarmat" clarified that all necessary documents have already been submitted, but the exact date for resuming operations is still unknown.
In the comments on the unit's latest VKontakte post, a user inquired whether a video call via Max is indeed required to identify bodies at the Rostov morgue. The unit confirmed this information, citing the blocking of video calls on Telegram and WhatsApp.