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Ukrainian Search Team Leader Oleksii Yukov Killed Exhuming Bodies of Fallen Soldiers
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Oleksii Yukov, the 40-year-old head of the search group "Platsdarm" who spent more than 20 years locating and returning the bodies of fallen soldiers, was killed on the front line on August 5.
Yukov died during an exhumation operation in the Lyman community of the Donetsk region after sustaining injuries directly on the contact line, according to Novynarnia.
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A native of Sloviansk in the Donetsk region, Yukov engaged in search operations for the fallen for more than a quarter of a century. Prior to 2014, he recovered the remains of soldiers killed during World War II.
Following the start of military operations in 2014 and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he continued this work by searching for the bodies of both civilians and military personnel. His group also retrieved the bodies of Russian soldiers from battlefields to be sent for official exchange.
Yukov's search group was the first in Ukraine to search for bodies directly in combat zones, along the front line, and after shellings.
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In 2014, he evacuated fallen Ukrainian troops from the battlefield near Ilovaisk. He considered searching for missing and deceased people in war to be his life's work.
Volodymyr Rybalkin, head of the Sviatohirsk City Military Administration, wrote on Facebook: “Oleksii Yukov is forever in formation. My friend, you are incredible, what you did—few people can do that. There are no words.”
Serhii Hnezdilov also wrote: “A great loss for me personally and for my social circle. For most of his life, he returned names to the fallen. He lived in Sloviansk. His name represents the Ukrainian Donbas and respect for every fallen person he returned to their families.”
For decades, searchers like Oleksii Yukov risked their lives on the front lines to ensure no fallen defender was left behind, driving the critical effort to locate and return Ukraine's deceased soldiers.
Aligning with this lifelong mission, the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War confirmed that once the identities of the recovered individuals were fully established through forensic examination, the bodies would be returned to their families for proper burial, guaranteeing that every fallen hero was laid to rest with dignity.
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