Oleksiy Yukov, a well-known search and recovery specialist who spent years bringing the bodies of fallen soldiers home, has died in the Donetsk region
5 August 22:17
Alexei Yukov, head of the “Platsdarm” Association of Military History Researchers and its search team , was killed on the front lines .
This was reported by Olga Gerasimyuk, chair of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting and a journalist, citing Alexei’s wife, according to "Komersant Ukrainian"
Alexei Yukov devoted many years to preserving the memory of and searching for fallen defenders. According to those who knew him, he viewed his work not merely as a job, but as a spiritual mission.
Journalist Olga Gerasymyuk shared her memories of Alexei:
“For years, Lesha brought the souls of the fallen home. Thousands… That’s the only way he referred to them. Sometimes they were just bodies—mutilated, desiccated, terrifying, with no identifying features to determine their names. There were no names—only souls. The souls of World War II soldiers, then the warriors of this war… Every day he went out to look for them… And today, for the very last time, too…”
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Vadym Lyakh, head of the Slovyansk Military-Civilian Administration, reported on the circumstances surrounding the death of the Ukrainian defender and searcher.
“Today, Oleksiy Yukov, the leader of the ‘Platsdarm’ search team, was killed. The vehicle in which he was returning from a mission hit a landmine in the Lyman community. He is responsible for bringing hundreds of fallen soldiers from World War II and the current Russian-Ukrainian war back from the battlefield to their homeland…,” Vadym Lyakh wrote on his Facebook page.
Serhiy Hnezdilov, a military serviceman, also reported on Yukov’s death. According to him, Yukov sustained a fatal wound while exhuming bodies on the front line.
“This is a great loss for me personally and for my circle of friends. He spent most of his life restoring the names of the fallen and lived in Sloviansk. His name is synonymous with the Ukrainian Donbas and respect for every fallen soldier he returned to their families,” Gnezdilov emphasized.
As is well known, Oleksiy Yukov spent more than 20 years searching for fallen soldiers. His team, “Platsdarm,” initially explored battle sites from World War I and World War II, and since 2014 has been searching for and recovering the bodies of soldiers killed in the Russian-Ukrainian war.
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