- Title: Ukrainian volunteers deliver bodies, and closure, to troops' families
- Date: 3rd January 2023
- Summary: YAMPIL, DONETSK REGION, UKRAINE (JANUARY 2, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ARTUR SIMEIKO, 26, MEMBER OF SEARCH AND EXHUMATION, 'BLACK TULIP' MISSION, INVESTIGATING BODY WHICH IS LYING WITHIN A DUG UP HOLE SIMEIKO BRUSHING OFF SHOULDER OF BODY, UKRAINIAN FLAG PATCH VISIBLE ON SHOULDER MINE, OTHER ELEMENTS FOUND NEAR BODY ON DISPLAY REPRESENTATIVE OF 'BLACK TULIP' MISSION, OLEKSII IUKOV, AGED 37, TALKING TO COLLEAGUES, LOOKING ON LEGS OF BODY VOLUNTEER NEAR BODY, BRUSHING OFF HEAD (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) REPRESENTATIVE OF 'BLACK TULIP' MISSION, OLEKSII IUKOV, AGED 37, SAYING: "The current circumstances are incomprehensible, I can't wrap my head around them. We're in the 21st century, there's war, and human bodies just lay along the roads, in the woods, and in ruined buildings. We need to take every single body, and our group works for 100 percent results, to dig up every single boy (soldier) that died for Ukraine." SEARCH AND EXHUMATION VOLUNTEER GROUP WALKING UPHILL IUKOV WALKING VOLUNTEER GROUP WALKING IUKOV POKING GROUND IN FORMER TRENCH WITH METAL POLE (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) 'BLACK TULIP' MISSION VOLUNTEER, ARTUR SIMEIKO, 26, SAYING: "When we dig up our guys (Ukrainian soldiers), I think that we're doing a good deed. Their parents wait for them at home. Then, they can be buried properly, according to tradition, whether it's the Christian burial rite or that of another belief. They shouldn't lie in some forest, field, or on the street. When we find a body, I feel rather good, I don't feel bad about it." SIMEIKO INSTALLING CORDON TAPE AROUND EXHUMATION SITE NUMBER DEDICATED TO EXHUMATION SITE VARIOUS OF SIMEIKO WORKING WITH BODY BODY VOLUNTEERS WORKING WITH TWO FOUND BODIES HELMET AND DOCUMENTS FOUND WITH ONE BODY (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) REPRESENTATIVE OF 'BLACK TULIP' MISSION, OLEKSII IUKOV, AGED 37, SAYING: "When I became a bit older, around 12-years-old, my older brother took me to fighting grounds of World War II, and what I saw left a lasting impression on me. I never thought something like that was possible. When we went into the woods (in childhood), it was the end of May or the beginning of summer. Everything was green, but there were white spots in the woods. They were human bones. There were so many of them that I thought it was not real, maybe animal bones. Skulls were scattered around, as well as Soviet and German soldier equipment." VOLUNTEER DIGGING NEAR BODY IUKOV WORKING OVER BODY IUKOV TAKING FINDING IN HAND, SWIPING DIRT OFF PATCH, SAYING (Ukrainian): "The Ukrainian flag, right here." IUKOV GOING THROUGH SURFACE WITH HANDS, PREPARING LOCATION FOR DIGGING GAS MASK (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) REPRESENTATIVE OF 'BLACK TULIP' MISSION, OLEKSII IUKOV, AGED 37, SAYING: "Mainly, they were World War II fighting positions, and we found identification signs among the remains. The Germans had so-called coins, and elements of Wehrmacht or SS apparel. As for Soviet soldiers, they had stars, or unit signs, parts of documents and apparel. What was preserved was leather clothing, footwear, belts, particles of ammunition, weapons, helmets, etc."
- Embargoed: 17th January 2023 10:16
- Keywords: Donetsk region Russian soldiers Ukrainian soldiers War in Ukraine disinterment exchange exhumation front line
- Location: YAMPIL, DONETSK REGION, UKRAINE / UNKNOWN LOCATION, UKRAINE
- City: YAMPIL, DONETSK REGION, UKRAINE / UNKNOWN LOCATION, UKRAINE
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Europe,Military Conflicts,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001004603012023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
Scouring the frontlines of the war in Ukraine, a group of volunteers have made it their mission to search for the bodies of fallen soldiers and return them to their families.
Made up of around 100 volunteers, the 'Black Tulip Mission' undertakes the dangerous task of locating and exhuming bodies of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers, often to the sound of explosions nearby.
Oleksii Iukov, now part of the Black Tulips, was the founder of one of the first body search mission in Ukraine after he began locating the remains of WWII soldiers buried in unmarked sites in Ukrainian forested battlefields.
Now that war is once again in their country, Iukov and the rest of the team said they are determined to bring peace of mind to the families awaiting the return of a soldier who will never make it home.
"The current circumstances are incomprehensible, I can't wrap my head around them. We're in the 21st century, there's war, and human bodies just lay along the roads, in the woods, and in ruined buildings. We need to take every single body, and our group works for 100 percent results, to dip up every single boy (soldier) that died for Ukraine," said Iukov.
"When we dig up our guys (Ukrainian soldiers), I think that we're doing a good deed. Their parents wait for them at home. Then, they can be buried properly, according to tradition, whether it's the Christian burial rite or that of another belief. They shouldn't lie in some forest, field, or on the street," added volunteer Artur Simeiko.
The exhumations and meticulous search for any identification can be dangerous as bodies are often found with the remains of explosive weapons or even booby-trapped. The group declined to say how many bodies it had found.
Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Iukov said he had already found over 3000 bodies of Soviet soldiers, 1000 Wehrmacht/SS bodies, but lost his right eye and injured his legs when a WWII mine detonated during one of those exhumations.
"When I became a bit older, around 12-years-old, my older brother took me to fighting grounds of World War II, and what I saw left a lasting impression on me. I never thought something like that was possible. When we went into the woods (in childhood), it was the end of May or the beginning of summer. Everything was green, but there were white spots in the woods. They were human bones. There were so many of them that I thought it was not real, maybe animal bones. Skulls were scattered around, as well as Soviet and German soldier equipment," he recalled.
Despite dangers and the 'horror' of each grave, the 'Black Tulip Mission' remains undeterred.
"One never gets used to this. Whenever you dig up a boy, you live through his nightmare and the horror he went through in his last moment, when he understood that this is the end, there's no way back. Together with him, you go through all of this again. This is very very difficult, because you understand that you're about to tell his family that their loved one is gone. We found him. This means that their last hopes, such as that he could have been taken prisoner or is in hiding, just fade in a moment. This is horrible," said Iukov.
(Production: Herbert Villarraga, Felix Hoske, Vanessa Romeo) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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