KYIV — Ukraine on Saturday paid tribute to Oleksiy Yukov, a volunteer who spent more than two decades recovering the remains of civilians and soldiers killed in war, after he was fatally wounded by a landmine during a recovery mission in the Donetsk region. He was 40.
Thousands of mourners gathered at the Cathedral of St. Volodymyr in central Kyiv for an Orthodox Christian service, with additional tributes held at Maidan Square and in other Ukrainian cities. Yukov’s coffin was brought through central Kyiv before the service, according to the Associated Press.
Yukov died on Aug. 5 while working to recover bodies from the front line. He founded Platsdarm, an organization whose volunteers search fields, forests and ruined areas for the remains of people killed in fighting, often operating in areas contaminated by mines and other hazards.
Yukov, who was from Ukraine’s Donbas region, began recovering wartime remains as a teenager after encountering the remains of Soviet soldiers from World War Two. Over the following decades, his teams recovered Ukrainian and Russian dead, reflecting his stated belief that all victims of war should receive a proper burial. He became known as the “collector of souls.”
His work carried significant personal risks. Yukov was injured in a mine blast in 2022, suffering leg injuries and losing an eye, but later returned to work near the front line. In a social media post last month, he described mines, shelling and drones as persistent dangers while saying his aim was to ensure that the dead were returned home.
Yukov’s widow, Evhenyia Kaluhyna, said at the funeral that she would continue his work. “The work was difficult and terrifying,” she said, according to AP. “But I promise you we will continue it because the dead deserve it.”
His daughter, Diana Kaluhyna, told AP that his work had helped grieving families. She said he had honored the dead while helping those left behind.
The recovery and identification of war dead remains an ongoing task in Ukraine, where bodies recovered from battlefields can require forensic examination before being identified and returned to relatives. Ukrainian authorities have continued conducting repatriation operations and identifying remains recovered from the war.
Yukov’s funeral marked the latest public tribute to a volunteer whose work focused on recovering the dead from areas where continuing military activity and unexploded ordnance make such missions dangerous.
