Kyiv bids farewell to Oleksiy Yukov, head of the "Platsdarm" search team
On Saturday, August 8, a farewell ceremony was held in Kyiv for Alexei Yukov, the leader of the “Platsdarm” search team, who was fatally wounded on August 5 while exhuming bodies along the contact line in the Lyman district of Donetsk Oblast.
People who were familiar with his many years of search work and had been following the activities of the “Platsdarm” group came to say goodbye to Oleksiy Yukov.
“It’s unlikely anyone will be able to replace him—his genius, his search work. And we had such high hopes that he would help us find our missing relatives. I came to express my gratitude and respect to him,” said Valentina.
Serhiy Hnezdilov, a military officer, called Yukov’s death a tremendous loss for the Ukrainian Donbas.
“He is a son of the Ukrainian Donbas. This is an immense loss, first and foremost for Kramatorsk, for Sloviansk, and for the Ukrainian Donbas, because he was a man with a tremendous mission—one he believed in and carried out. He carried it out above all else, no matter what,” said Gnezdilov.
According to him, the “Platsdarm” search team did not receive government funding and was not supported by volunteer foundations.
Since May 2014, Oleksiy Yukov had dedicated his life to searching for and recovering the remains of fallen servicemen of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
Together with the “Platsdarm” team, he worked in the hottest spots of the Donbas, particularly in Sloviansk, Debaltseve, and Ilovaisk.
The search teams often worked under fire and in mined areas, trying to identify the deceased and return their bodies to their families.
Serhiy Hnezdilov also called for support of the initiative to posthumously award Oleksiy Yukov the title of Hero of Ukraine.
“His pioneering experience in search operations… I have rarely called for people to sign a petition for a posthumous Hero of Ukraine, but I believe that Oleksiy Yukov definitely deserves to be a Hero of Ukraine,” the serviceman emphasized.
Alexei Yukov dedicated more than a decade to search and rescue work, during which he helped bring fallen defenders home and determine the fates of those missing in action.
This was reported by correspondent Kateryna Halko.
