For over 25 years, he brought bodies of fallen home: farewell was held in Kyiv for search and recovery specialist Oleksii Yukov. PHOTOS
A funeral service was held at St Vladimir’s Cathedral in the capital for Alexei Yukov – the head and founder of the ‘Platsdarm’ search team, who devoted a quarter of a century to the exhumation, identification and repatriation of fallen soldiers.
This was reported by Censor.NET, citing "Suspilne".
The memorial service for Oleksiy Yukov at St Vladimir’s Cathedral was led by Metropolitan Epiphanius. After the service, people bid him farewell on Independence Square.
To his family and friends, Yukov was more than just a searcher. His wife’s daughter said that Oleksiy was a community activist and a man who had become a true father figure to many.
Oleksiy considered it his duty to search for the missing and bring people home.
"He said he simply had to do it, that he could sense them. He always told everyone that he would bring them back," his daughter said.
She also recalled that in 2022, Yukov was injured in an explosion whilst carrying out search operations and lost an eye. Despite his injury, he later returned to work.
"He hadn’t even got back to walking properly yet, but he went back there anyway and managed to retrieve the body," she added.
What led up to this?
It was previously reported that the head of the ‘Platsdarm’ search and rescue team, Oleksiy Yukov, had been killed.
What is known about Oleksii Yukov?
He was the head of the ‘Platsdarm’ search team, which has been searching for fallen and missing servicemen for over 27 years.
Together with his team, they collaborated not only with the military but also with search teams from the General Staff, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the State Emergency Service (SES).
Yukov previously worked with the ‘Black Tulip’ volunteer group. Since then, his unit has recovered over 1,500 bodies from the front line, mostly Ukrainian servicemen, though there are also Russians among them.
Read the interview with Oleksiy Yukov for Censor.NET, published in April 2026, via link.
