A farewell ceremony was held in the capital for Oleksii Yukov, head of the Platsdarm volunteer search group. He was killed on August 5 while searching for and exhuming the bodies of those killed on the line of contact. For years, Yukov had worked to bring home fallen Ukrainian military personnel and civilians, reports UNN.
According to serviceman Serhii Hniezdilov, Yukov sustained a fatal injury while exhuming bodies on the front line.
"For most of his life, he returned names to the fallen. He lived in Sloviansk. His name is about the Ukrainian Donbas and respect for every fallen person whom he brought back," Hniezdilov wrote.
Video: Andrii Khodkov, UNN photographer
The Platsdarm search group, led by Yukov, was among the first in Ukraine to begin systematically searching for the dead back in 2014. After the start of russia's full-scale invasion, its members continued working in the most dangerous areas of the front.
The volunteers searched for and returned the bodies of Ukrainian service members, fallen civilians, and Russian military personnel. Their work made it possible to establish the identities of the dead, give their families the opportunity to bury their loved ones, and preserve the memory of those who died during the war.
At Yukov's farewell ceremony, his wife Yevheniia recalled the last years of his work and spoke about the danger that searchers faced at the front every day.
She noted that after the tragedy, she was particularly acutely aware of the price paid by people who search for the dead.
"When you see in the morning that your husband is getting ready and signing his obelisk, I think that is a bad sign. There were things when I thought—the time will come, and we will show this," said the fallen man's wife.
Yevheniia also spoke about one occasion when Yukov and his comrades worked near the bodies of the fallen under the constant threat of drone strikes.
"When they are sitting in a trench, next to a dead person who is already so dry, and Alyosha. And drones come in, they drop [explosives], but nothing goes off. I watched the video and thought—if it had gone off, they would have been buried alive, and no one would have found them," she said.
According to his wife, despite all the risks, Yukov continued his search work because he understood its importance for the families of the fallen.
"And on the 5th, perhaps the gods decided that it was time for him to enter the world of the dead. And we, the living, must feel the changes today," Yevheniia said.
She also emphasized that the work of searchers largely depends on the support of Ukrainians and volunteers.
"Thank you for coming. You are all the best; the Ukrainian people are the best. We are fighting for our freedom. And in fact, this volunteer activity is sustained by you," said Oleksii Yukov's wife.
For years, Oleksii Yukov worked where others could no longer or did not want to work—bringing the fallen back from the battlefield and helping establish their identities. His death was a loss not only for his family and friends, but also for the entire community of searchers and volunteers who continue to bring home those taken by the war.