Oleksiy Yukov, a volunteer who spent over two decades finding the bodies of fallen soldiers and civilians, was killed in a mine explosion during a mission in the Donetsk region.
A farewell ceremony for Oleksiy Yukov, a 40-year-old volunteer known as the 'soul collector,' was held on Saturday at St. Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv. Yukov died on August 5 in a mine explosion while leading a mission to recover the bodies of fallen soldiers on the front line in the Donetsk region.
Thousands gathered in central Kyiv to pay tribute to a man who devoted more than two decades to finding the remains of civilians and soldiers, including many Russians. Yukov founded the organization Platsdarm ("bridgehead"), driven by the belief that all the fallen deserve a dignified burial.
Yukov, originally from the war-torn Donbas region, was a martial arts instructor. He began finding bodies as a teenager after stumbling upon the remains of Soviet and Russian soldiers from World War II. Platsdarm volunteers venture into fields, forests, among ruins, and into territories where the ground is often mined, reports AP.
In 2022, Yukov sustained leg injuries and lost an eye in a mine explosion. Although he was still recovering from those injuries, he returned to the field. His dedication to a job he described in almost religious terms never wavered.
"Remote mines, shelling, drones-everything is against you. But you go and do everything to bring every soul home," Yukov wrote on social media last month.
Yukov also addressed those who believed Russian bodies should simply be left on the battlefield. "When they say, 'Let them rot,' I disagree. That's how we fight for every soul," he said. He described his work as a constant action. "This is action. Action every day in the fields, in the forest belts, among the ruins, where your life can end at any moment," he wrote.
The Orthodox service at St. Volodymyr's Cathedral drew many citizens who came to pay their respects to a man who saw the body as a soul waiting to return home. Reporting contributed by Derek Gatopoulos from Athens and AP photographer Efrem Lukatsky.
