Three million WWII soldiers 'still missing'

More than three million Soviet soldiers are still considered missing from World War II, a general said today - a figure reflecting the enormous scope of the nation's wartime losses.

General Vladimir Isakov, a deputy defence minister, made the statement while attending the burial of the remains of 121 Red Army soldiers who died in the battle of Moscow in 1941.

An estimated 27 million people died during the conflict known to most Russians as the Great Patriotic War.

Much of the western part of the country was ravaged during four years of epic battles.