New Delhi, May 23 -- Hundreds of Ukrainians marched through the capital Friday to demand that the government repeal a recent law that families of missing soldiers say could lead to their loved ones being prematurely declared dead.

The protesters gathered In Kyiv to oppose legislation passed in February on the legal status of missing persons that critics say allows courts to declare missing Ukrainian military personnel legally dead before their fate has been fully confirmed.

"Today all the families came out so that the missing are not equated with the dead," said Mariana Yatselenko, 27.

More than 90,000 people are listed as missing in Ukraine's unified registry of persons who disappeared under special circumstances, according to Artur D...