What Happened
Ukrainian military members carry the coffin of Oleksiy Yukov, Ukrainian Platsdarm search unit, during his funeral . Volodymyr's Cathedral Saturday. Roman Pilipey/ caption
Oleksiy Yukov, a Ukrainian "collector of souls" for his decades-long work recovering the remains of soldiers and civilians on the frontlines of war, was honored Saturday after being killed by a landmine during a recovery mission in the eastern Donetsk region.
Ukraine invasion — explained Ukraine negotiator: '' Yukov, 40, was killed on Aug. 5 when he stepped during an effort to exhume a body, according to a social friend, Serhiy Hnezdilov. "This is a personally people ," a translation published . "[H]e ."
Thousands of Ukrainians paid their respects Orthodox Christian service in the capital. Before the service in Kyiv, Yukov was mourned and honored in his hometown of Sloviansk in Donetsk province.
Why It Matters
tireless efforts to bring closure to the families of those killed . In carrying 2022, sustained a leg injury in a mine blast, The says, but returned recovering.
As a teenager, Yukov became interested in searching for the remains on WWII battlefields in Ukraine, according to Ukrainska Pravda. After the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014, he founded Platsdarm ("Bridgehead") to recover remains and provide dignified burials , the newspaper said. Through this work, he became known as a "collector of souls."
Oleksiy Yukov examines a Russian soldier he collected on the frontline in the Sloviansk region of Ukraine in October 2023. Bram Janssen/AP hide caption
a profile of Yukov, the newspaper quoted him as saying a Platsdarm volunteers morning. "If it's a safe area, we survey the territory with a drone. We check trenches, craters, shell holes, belongings, rubbish bins," he said. "Then we divide search explosive devices using probes and metal detectors. disposal experts, who destroy or neutralize them. Then we carefully search bodies."
What Comes Next
recovered not just Ukrainian soldiers, but Russian soldiers, too, civilians killed as a result of the conflict that has claimed hundreds of thousands fighting.
Months -. 2022, Europe/Radio Liberty that Russia "has caused tremendous ."
Russia, he said "started a war against us; it is ruining our cities and killing our people. But we remain circumstances and gather their military's dead bodies."
In an International Emmy-award winning documentary about Platsdarm's work, titled Ukraine's Frontline Sacrifice, believes souls are reborn.
Music Why Finnish conductor Dalia Stasevska's Ukraine " buried, the body remains . mourned, , it cannot be reborn – the soul wanders. wander."
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