Ukraine war: How two mothers retrieved their dead sons from the battlefield

This nonfiction contains details that immoderate readers whitethorn find distressing.

Lyudmyla Kupriychuk stood crying successful a muddy field. Her ex-husband was wrapping their son's assemblage successful a blanket.

"I was hysterical," she explains. "I said: 'Are we conscionable going to thrust him location successful the footwear of the car?'"

"My ex-husband yelled astatine me: 'Calm down, we conscionable request to get retired of here'."

The divorced mates had bought an aged Mercedes and travelled hundreds of kilometres. They were down force lines to retrieve the assemblage of their dormant Ukrainian worker lad and present they were ploughing done fields successful Russian-occupied territory pockmarked with ammunition craters.

After bringing the car to a halt, Anatoliy, Lyudmyla's ex-husband, walked implicit to immoderate burnt-out armoured vehicles.

Bodies laic scattered connected the ground.

"He tore disconnected the azygous to spot if determination was a tattoo connected the arm," Ms Kupriychuk said. "And it was there. It said: 'Never springiness up'."

"That was each we could recognise our lad by," the 40-year-old says, her dependable trembling.

"The bodies were lying retired successful the unfastened for days, successful the mediate of nowhere. They weren't conscionable burnt, chaotic animals had gnawed astatine them too."

Her lad Maksym was conscionable 20 years old. He died connected the 2nd time of the Russian penetration - 25 February 2022.

Nobody had paid overmuch attraction to a middle-aged mates arriving successful the Russian-held colony of Tomaryne. It's astir a 90-minute thrust from the confederate metropolis of Kherson.

The Russians and their allies were yet to found their administration, truthful it was chaotic erstwhile the mates arrived determination successful March 2022.

They drove extracurricular the colony and met the archetypal manned checkpoint.

"I got retired of the car and walked towards a antheral pointing a weapon astatine me," Ms Kupriychuk recalls. "But I wasn't scared, each I felt was revulsion for these people."

Unbelievably, she says, she managed to cajole the soldiers to fto them through. She showed them a photograph of her son's assemblage and they drove to the tract wherever Maksym died.

Then, with his assemblage successful the boot, the mates started their 12-hour travel location to Vinnytsia, successful cardinal Ukraine.

There is nary authoritative information connected the fig of Ukrainian subject deaths oregon missing bodies - that is classified information.

As a nonrecreational worker based successful Lviv successful occidental Ukraine, Maksym had not told his parent that his aerial battle unit had been sent southbound to halt the Russian offensive. She was shocked erstwhile his woman phoned and announced his death.

One of Maksym's colleagues had a photograph of the tract wherever helium had been killed and said his assemblage was inactive there. He told her that Maksym had travel nether shelling, but determination was nary different accusation astir the circumstances of his death.

Ms Kupriychuk phoned Maksym's subject unit, and they told her to hold for information.

"Every nighttime I was going berserk knowing that my lad was lying retired determination successful the freezing acold and determination was thing to screen him," she says.

Days aboriginal arsenic dawn broke, Maksym's parents acceptable disconnected to find him and bring his assemblage home.

They had nary program - conscionable the photo, the colony sanction and a interaction for a section who had volunteered to usher them.

Ukraine's Presidential Envoy for Servicemen's Rights, Alyona Verbytska, says 15,000 Ukrainians civilians and subject unit went missing betwixt February and the extremity of 2022. They could person been killed oregon captured.

On the Russian side, up to 600 soldiers are missing successful Ukrainian territory, excluding occupied areas, according to information from the BBC's Russian service.

People are utilizing immoderate means they tin to find their loved ones.

A celebrated TV anchor started a countrywide task to assistance with the search, and Ukrainians person besides donated wealth for instrumentality specified arsenic refrigerated vans to evacuate the bodies of soldiers and instrumentality them to their families.

In societal media groups connected Facebook and Telegram, radical stock accusation astir the missing and inquire for help.

Natalya Karpova, besides from Vinnytsia, was searching for her son, Roman. She recovered a photograph of his assemblage connected a Russian Telegram transmission successful April.

Russian subject unit station connected these instant messaging channels, and they are often the lone root of accusation from occupied areas.

The station suggested that a sniper had killed the 30-year-old engineer.

Friends of Roman called to archer her of his death, saying he'd died astatine the extremity of April. That prompted her online search. When she recovered the photo, she called his aerial unit unit.

"They said it was fake and I shouldn't beryllium relying connected the aggressor's media for information," she says.

"They said: 'We don't person immoderate papers [saying] that your lad has died'."

Ukraine's subject does not remark connected missing soldiers arsenic per martial law, which means families often person to hold for the authorities oregon volunteers to assistance instrumentality a body.

Ms Karpova, a 59-year-old doctor, discontinue her occupation to absorption connected uncovering Roman's assemblage herself.

She knew helium had gone to the frontline, but not which one.

The representation posted connected Telegram showed his ID and gave an approximate determination successful eastbound Ukraine.

With assistance from different portion of the military, a drone was flown implicit the site, and they located his assemblage adjacent the colony of Dovhenke, extracurricular Izyum metropolis successful eastbound Ukraine.

But dense warring and the Russian concern kept it disconnected limits.

Eventually, determination was a breakthrough. Ukraine liberated the colony successful September 2022.

"It was autumn, I knew we had nary clip to waste," she says. "When wintertime comes and snowfall falls, determination would beryllium thing near of the body."

She rapidly assembled a hunt squad with assistance from section politicians and activists, arsenic good arsenic the military.

Under heavy vegetation, and successful an country afloat of landmines, they recovered Roman's body, utilizing his subject canine tag to place him.

"I felt a load autumn disconnected my shoulders," his parent says, her dependable breaking. "You cannot ideate what it feels similar to beryllium incapable to instrumentality your son's assemblage location and hide him."

His assemblage was buried backmost successful his location metropolis of Vinnytsia.

The aerial unit told the BBC that dense warring and Russia's concern meant Roman's portion was unaware of each the deaths astatine the time.

On returning to Vinnytsia, Ms Kupriychuk took Maksym's assemblage consecutive to the morgue.

"All they fto maine spot was my son's hand," she says. "They didn't fto maine spot his assemblage arsenic his caput was gone."

She has turned Maksym's chamber into a shrine. It's afloat of photos of him smiling arsenic good arsenic a vessel of his cologne and immoderate handcrafts helium made for her arsenic a schoolboy. She takes his azygous from the wardrobe and pulls it adjacent to her, arsenic if hugging him.

"Nothing has changed present since helium died," she says.

For Ms Karpova, the information she recovered and buried her lad has brought nary peace.

"My hubby and I can't judge he's dead," she says.

Ms Karpova adds that she got nary enactment from the aerial unit to find him, though a wide aboriginal thanked her for uncovering Roman's body.

"I privation triumph present truthful nary different parent finds herself successful my situation," she says.

The BBC was incapable to scope Maksym's subject portion for remark connected the circumstances of his death.