# Ukraine mourns ‘collector of souls’ volunteer killed recovering war dead 2026-08-08T16:35:45+00:00 | World & Diplomacy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Ukraine held a solemn funeral on Saturday for Oleksiy Yukov, a 40-year-old volunteer who spent over two decades recovering the bodies of civilians and soldiers killed in war. Yukov died on Wednesday in a landmine explosion during a recovery mission in the Donbas region, reports India Today. Thousands gathered at the Cathedral of Saint Volodymyr in Kyiv and at Maidan Square to pay respects, with many kneeling as his casket passed. Yukov, who founded the organisation Platsdarm (Bridgehead), believed all the dead deserved a proper burial and was known as a 'collector of souls'. His widow Evhenyia Kaluhyna promised through tears to continue his work. Yukov had lost an eye in a 2022 mine blast but returned to the front line. His daughter said he 'honoured the dead and healed the living'. He had rejected calls to leave Russian bodies behind, saying, 'This is how we fight for every soul.' ## Coverage - ndtv.com - indiatoday.in Tags: Funeral, Kyiv, landmine, Ukraine, volunteer, war Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/ukraine-mourns-volunteer-killed-recovering-war-dead/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/ukraine-mourns-volunteer-killed-recovering-war-dead/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.