Farewell ceremony for volunteer Yukov held in Kyiv

On Saturday, August 8, 2026, a farewell ceremony was held in Kyiv for Oleksiy Yukov, a dedicated volunteer, military archaeologist, and head of the humanitarian search group Platsdarm. For over two decades, Yukov dedicated his life to locating, exhuming, and returning the remains of fallen soldiers to their families. His efforts have brought comfort to thousands of Ukrainian families who lost loved ones in the conflict.

Deputy Head of the President’s Office, Iryna Vereschuk, expressed her condolences on Telegram, sharing Yukov's words: "We’re not rescuing the dead; we’re rescuing the living. Because this is about the families who are waiting."

Initially scheduled for the evening of August 7 in his hometown of Mykilsk in the Donetsk region, the ceremony was moved due to concerns over a possible Russian attack. Yukov's loved ones, colleagues, and students honored him in another location despite the threat.

Yukov's journey started as a teenager, searching for the remains of soldiers from World War II. Since 2014, the Platsdarm unit he founded has been the first in Ukraine to evacuate bodies from modern battlefields in hotspots like Ilovaisk, Debaltseve, and Bakhmut. They have also collaborated with the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Na Shchyti project, retrieving bodies of Russian soldiers for prisoner exchanges.

During the ongoing full-scale invasion, Yukov's team recovered the remains of nearly 2,000 people. In 2024, he was awarded the Golden Heart presidential accolade for his heroic efforts. Tragically, Yukov lost his life on August 5, 2026, when the search team's vehicle struck a mine in Lyman, Donetsk region.

A petition calling for Yukov to be posthumously named a Hero of Ukraine gathered 25,000 signatures and is awaiting review by the President of Ukraine. The Platsdarm team assured that, despite their leader's loss, his mission will continue.