Oleksiy Yukov, a 40-year-old Ukrainian who gained recognition for his work recovering the remains of soldiers and civilians across conflict zones, died on Aug. 5 after stepping on a landmine during a body recovery operation in the eastern Donetsk region. His death occurred while he was conducting an exhumation mission as part of his ongoing humanitarian efforts.
Thousands of Ukrainians attended an Orthodox Christian funeral service honoring Yukov in Kyiv on Saturday, with additional commemoration held in his hometown of Sloviansk in Donetsk province. Yukov had earned the designation “collector of souls” for his decades of dedication to locating and recovering human remains in conflict areas. His work brought closure to families of the deceased and ensured dignified burials for the dead.
Yukov’s involvement in recovery operations began in his teenage years when he searched World War II battlefields in Ukraine. Following the Russian intervention in Crimea in 2014, he established Platsdarm, an organization focused on recovering remains and providing proper burials for the deceased. Despite sustaining significant injuries in a mine blast in 2022 that cost him an eye and caused leg damage, Yukov continued his recovery work while still recuperating.
The recovery operations conducted by Yukov and his volunteer team involved systematic searches of dangerous terrain, including the use of drones, metal detectors, and bomb disposal specialists to safely locate bodies. His team recovered remains of Ukrainian soldiers, Russian soldiers, and civilians affected by the ongoing conflict. An International Emmy-award winning documentary titled Ukraine’s Frontline Sacrifice documented the work of Platsdarm and Yukov’s humanitarian mission during the war that began in Feb. 2022.
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