A white refrigerator with a large red cross logo is parked in front of a block of buildings in Slavyansk, a city in eastern Ukraine. Aleksey Yukov completed another day of collecting bodies at the front.
A simple inscription is read on the car door: “Search for victims.” And Yukov has a black tulip on his shirt, the name of his organization, with the inscription “Evacuation 200”.
“200” is a code for battlefield casualties dating back to the Soviet war in Afghanistanbut whose sinister meaning is now known to all Ukrainians.
Initially, Black Tulip, a public organization of about 30 volunteers established in the early 2010s, searched for the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers who died during the two wars Global.
However, now the organization is collecting the dead from modern warfare: A conflict that began in 2014 in eastern Ukraine between Moscow-backed pro-Russian separatists and Kyiv forces, a conflict that has spread across the country since Russian invasion 24 February.
Every day, Yukov and two other volunteers tour the eastern region DonbassThey go to the village, to the roads, near the front, to find the lifeless bodies of their compatriots. Soldiers above all, but also civilians who died from the daily bombardments.
nightmare visions
In early June, the President of Ukraine, Vladimir ZelenskyAn estimated 60 to 100 soldiers died on the eastern front every day. Yukov believes that since the beginning of the war he has transported at least 300 dead, most of them transferred to the morgues of Dnepr, a large city in the center of the country.
Among them were Russian soldiers. “Death doesn’t matter,” says the 36-year-old volunteer. “All bodies should be treated with respect,” he continues.
The corpses of enemies are also delivered to Ukrainian armywhich should organize an exchange with Russian troops.
In 2014, Tulipan Negro volunteers were able to infiltrate secessionist territory to collect corpses, a channel of communication remained open despite their safety being far from guaranteed.
But today it seems to them that the Red Cross decorating the refrigerator has become a real “red cloth” for Russian forcesand claim to have been repeatedly attacked.
“2014 was tough. But this has nothing to do with what is happening today. It turned into a merciless war, a crazy war. Nobody controls anything anymore,” Yukov explains.
Suddenly he puts his hands on his head. “I have images that come to mind,” he mutters, conjuring up mutilated bodies and nightmarish visions of dogs or hedgehogs devouring corpses.
Yukov recalls that the tragedy at the Kramatorsk station will forever be remembered for him, when in April a rocket killed 52 civilians who were trying to leave the region. Tulipán Negro volunteers worked for several days to collect human bits.
“For history”
“The black tulip fulfills a very important mission that very few people can mentally and physically fulfill,” says Dmitry Kravchenko, head of town hall from Slavyansk.
“In addition to the bodies, volunteers are also collecting evidence of the presence of troops foreign. It’s important for the story.”
With no official mandate from either the army or the authorities, Yukov, the former president of the regional Muay Thai federation, feels as if he’s been sworn in for the mission.
“I have to look for these bodies. After all, soldiers die for us,” says the man, who spends his life surrounded by corpses and who has not seen his wife and daughter, refugees in Dnipro, for some time. with a half.
Out of work, he avoids specifying how he makes a living, but explains that black Tulip lives on donations, referring, in particular, to the Ukrainian church in the USA. “I just need food and gas for the truck,” he says.
Yukov confesses that he was traumatized by the experience he had when he was very young. “I was eleven years old, we went for a walk in the forest with my brother and stumbled upon a mass grave, which, like me The Second World War”.
Shaken by the sight of white bones on the ground, hooves and boots scattered on the ground, he has never left the dead since.
AFP
Source: RPP
I’m Liza Grey, an experienced news writer and author at the Buna Times. I specialize in writing about economic issues, with a focus on uncovering stories that have a positive impact on society. With over seven years of experience in the news industry, I am highly knowledgeable about current events and the ways in which they affect our daily lives.