Yaroslav Zhilkin is a volunteer, he is the head of “Soyuz Narodnaya Pamyat” (“National Memory Union”) organization. Together with his friends he crossed the front line many times to get dead soldiers to their mothers. Yaroslav told Informator.lg.ua why he started doing this, how to find missing in action soldiers and why it is harder to work in “LNR” than in “DNR”.

How long does your organization exist?

“Soyuz Narodnaya Pamyat” – is an official name of our structure – it was established before the war. We were searching for dead in the Great Patriotic War. Organization was founded in 2011. We conducted an all-Ukrainian meeting of seekers and decided to establish such organization and since that time I have been the head.

I’ve read that you had a business and abandoned it to search for dead soldiers. How did it happen? Why did you make such decision?

I didn’t abandon it at all. My wife took all main duties. It was possible then. It was inconvenient to be in charge together. I got into the seekers’ movement by accident. Went to the first expedition and gradually was sucked into it. I felt that it was the right thing for me to do. I suppose every man had such thought: “Ok, you’ve earned money, but what will you leave behind? It should be something worth telling your grandchildren, to make them proud of you at last”. This decision was preceded by a few events … I consider them to be sky-signs. Volunteers found remains of more than 300 dead soldiers of the Great Patriotic War in one farmer’s barn. Because of the lack of knowledge about legislation volunteers couldn’t rebury them in a deserving way.

As an entrepreneur I understood what to do. I hired a lawyer, investigated the problem, and addressed the police. They opened criminal cases about remains, forensic medical expert came to make a medicolegal report and concluded that it was not a criminal case and remains were of earlier period … Remains can’t be without documents. It was my first time to see so many people’s bones. It made a huge impression on me. Moreover, we found two medals, what gave us opportunity to identify two people. Others were unknown. After everything I’ve seen I started seen nightmares, it was a mess: war, explosions, trenches. I slept very bad and started getting tired easily. Our baby-sitter noticed that and I shared my worries. She told me: “I didn’t want to tell you but I had a dream. I saw you entering the house with two transparent figures in military uniform behind you. They were asking you something, but you couldn’t hear them”. When she told me that I felt creepy all over, I understood that I have intruded into underworld, world of the dead. I was so impressed that I told myself before going to bed: “Guys, I promise, I will bury you”. I had a good sleep that night. Doing this job you are starting to believe in things that you’ve never noticed before.

Tell me how did you switch from the search of soldiers’ remains of the World War One and World War Two to the ATO soldiers?

From the very beginning we knew that we’ll switch. In May we knew that we’ll be doing this. We didn’t think that it will happen so soon. We thought that we’d start when the conflict will come to an end. I couldn’t imagine how to do our job under shells. Last May we were on duty in Zakarpatie – it was The World War One’s 100^th anniversary, and we decided to celebrate it in such way. We were digging in a spot where battleships of two world wars took place. Cartridge cases of two wars were lying next to each other. At the same place. We were sitting by the fire and thinking how terrible it would be to deal with the third war.

I often remember this episode of wars’ intersection now, when we go to Saur-Mogila – to take scattered remains, body parts. When you walk by you see “kalash” cartridge cases, modern mines’ splinters, spare parts and shell splinters, cartridge belts of the Great Patriotic War mixed with this metal. The same place, seventy years past and everything is happening again.

Was it your initiative to search for “two hundredth” (cargo 200 – dead bodies in zinc coffins) in the ATO?

I knew that it would not manage without us. We know our job well. We have a huge experience. And when military men addressed us, we didn’t spend time thinking. We prepared and went right away.

Do you work on the territory controlled by Ukraine? Do you take separatists’ bodies?

I can’t discuss all nuances. According to the valid code of criminal procedure all bodies have to be given to law-enforcement agencies and criminal cases must be opened. There are no reasons to give those bodies to someone then. But we have to look for mutual compromises to create opportunities for our work, be unbiased and apolitical. I suppose you understand me. Our motto is: “We don’t fight against the dead”. Dead soldier – is not a soldier any more. He is just someone’s name, which should be returned to relatives and it is not important on which side he died and what he was fighting for. If someone was guilty for something – he had paid with life.

How many bodies have you already found?

There are two types of cases: bodies, which we have transported from the ATO zone, according to preliminary information about its location. And results of the search itself – bodies which were found and exhumed. We found about 560 such bodies. Together with transported bodies it will be about 700.

At first, we received a lot of requests from relatives: “Our boy was seen there; someone called; someone said; we saw on TV”. By agreement with the side responsible for our safety we came to places, took bodies and got them back, first to military men, because there was no working mechanism. That is why we took bodies to forensic medical experts to Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye. It was in august before the reconciliation. We were under a fire, under a “friendly fire”, situations were different. After the first reconciliation it was easier to work. We became impudent and started going back and forth. Results were considerable because everything was lying on the surface. Autumn was a recession, because clashes started over and it set in to rain.

How do you negotiate with separatists about your visit to the territory controlled by them?

First negotiations and first expedition wasn’t organized by us, but by officers of the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine) civil-military cooperation’s administration. They are responsible for this job. We cooperate closely and officially. Also we have contacts with the other side, those working contacts about expeditions are our everyday work. Free way through checkpoints on our side is organized by the AFU officers, on the other side – DNR combatants.

Describe each step of the search.

We have a hot phone line. At first, people called to our personal numbers, but in September we understood, that we have to create such hot line and digital database. We receive information that in the X village on the field, in forest plantation or a vegetable garden there is a nameless grave. This information can be reported by locals, relatives or combatants. Then, we negotiate with the other side when we can come there. Ukrainian soldiers escort us to the last AFU checkpoint. We cross it and then meet other people. Accompanied by them we go to the place, load “gruz 200”, process documents and take the body to forensic medical experts. That’s a mechanism for a one-person case.

I’ve heard that dead bodies were mined, doesn’t it complicate your work?

I’ve heard a lot about it too. At first, we even took special equipment to turn over bodies on a safe distance before the examination. After a hundredth time we stopped doing this, because we haven’t faced cases of mined corpses. It’s just a myth. There are a lot of such myths.

Dead bodies can’t be transported by any vehicle. Do you use special equipment?

At the beginning we had no transport at all. I asked my neighbor and he gave us “gazel”. Soldiers got a fridge somewhere but it got broken too often and we decided that it would be better without it. Weusedthermoboxes. Inwintervolunteersboughtusanappropriatefridge. Sometimeagowewerepresenteronemore. Now we have two fridges.

How many people are working in the project?

About 60 people participate in the field works. In general, there are about 120 people in the project. Themostparthaveotherconstantjobs. Some people are pensioners. This job is hard, dangerous, but it is still volunteering, unfortunately.

Psychologically it is a very hard job. How does your team overcome the pressure?

We have already passed the point when it was hard. Everyone developed his own protection system. There were people, who didn’t manage and left the project. It is normal, not everyone is ready to face such images and live with it afterwards. This work changed us, now we have different attitude to many things: to the war, to information war. Because we see both sides and know much more than each side separately. We are among a few people, who see the whole picture. At first, we didn’t have time for worries. We were leaving at 6 AM and coming back at 12 PM. Also we had to write reports about places and names of found people.

In the beginning we didn’t have instructions about things to pay attention to. We were given a 4 pages form – a form of registration of unidentified body. There is an item about “fingers’ size”, other specifics. When we reached the place, we understood that didn’t have time to fill this out. We had to gather everything until the sun would heat it or until it hasn’t blown up somewhere.

After a month of such work we made our forms. Compared them with the International Red Cross’s forms and found out that our main points coincided. We took those forms and people in the camp entered information to the digital register. Thereislinkagetolocationandmainbodyfeatures. At some point of time it may be used.

How did this work change you?

People are coming with their specific believes … our volunteer went home to have a rest, he is from the Poltava region initially, told relatives about situation in the ATO zone and they started arguing with him – didn’t believe in what he’d said. People see one picture sitting at home in front of the TV screen. When you are at the action place – you see absolutely different image. And it doesn’t coincide with generally accepted dogmas. You want to or you don’t – you change your opinion. When you see all the horror, a desire to gain something by the means of war – vanishes. I became more tolerant to people’s opinion. Nobelieves, nofaith isworthkillingothers. Crueltyengendersmorecruelty. And it goes until someone say: “Stop, guys, what was in the beginning?”

You said that you didn’t go to the territory controlled by “LNR”, why?

No, I do go there. But not in the way I would like to do this. Different obstacles occur there all the time. Attitude to the Ukrainian side is more negative in “LNR” than in “DNR”, if we will try to pick words diplomatically. The point is in mentality or something else, I don’t know. People there have other views and approach. But there are guys, Afghan war veterans, who help us a lot. We got hundreds of dead bodies due to their help. And we are very grateful. But we cannot conduct such organized search as on the “DNR” territory. Although, there are places which we would like to examine.

How many soldiers had name tags?

Last year – in Ilovaysk and Saur-Mogila we found about 5 bodies with name tags out of 150 bodies. Then, we had more such cases.

What should people do if their relative is missing?

It depends on a question – who is missing? If it is a civilian – that is one case, if it is an AFU’s soldier or a person from the other side – that’s the other case. Anyway, people should address local SCU office, police, report that someone is missing. Those efforts have little effect, but we should follow the rules. Then, people should address us – via the phone or a web site.

How does government can help your work?

We wrote a pile of letters to the government trying to convince them that it’s their work – to get back bodies of killed people and search for missing. We are tired working in the ATO. We want to return to the Great Patriotic War. We pray to have no more new work. And all people tell us: “Guys, we wish you to lose your job”. We want to deal with that war because there is a lot of work to do.

Today our work is important only for mothers of missing people. To organize this work appropriately it is necessary to establish some interdepartmental center. Not the fictitious one that exists already, but the real one. Now mothers are waiting for 6 months to receive bodies of their dead sons to bury and get them only after our work and the work of forensic medical experts. And afterwards, they receive a statement from the SCU that their sons are in captivity. Mothers go crazy, catch at a straw, try to call to the SCU and talk to secretaries, who don’t know a thing and can’t help. No one think about people’s feelings. When you’ve received the body, you think about funeral, coffin, etc. You work with the situation. But when you are not sure about the fate of your relative … God forbid to go through this. It’sawoundbleedingforyears. Becauseyoucandonothing. Imagine mother’s feelings – son doesn’t answer the phone, she knows about a slaughterhouse there: “Where is he? Whatishe? Maybeheislying, bleeding, andI’msittinghere. Wheretogo? Wheretocall? Maybeheisinacaptivity!”. Iteatsfrominside. Iknowaboutsuicidecasesamongmothers. Suchpeopleneedsomeone to talk. Specialists are needed. That is why people look for my phone number and call to talk even though I am not a psychotherapist. ItrytocalmthemdownasIcan. Itellthemthetruth. Sometimesitisbrutal. Somepeoplesettlesdown, thanksme. Sometimes, people just need to be heard, to get some advice, to get a hope, to hear that everything possible will be done. Authorities say: “it is outside my competence …; according to the criminal proceeding …; I have no right…; I am not aware …; I don’t know…”. That’sit! No one established a center for such mothers. We have money to rename streets, but we don’t have money for such centers. That’s just our attitude to people. Died – that’s it, the end, there is nothing to do. “What makes you better than Stalin, against whom you are fighting?” – I want to ask authorities. You have the same attitude to the dead as he had. Nopeople – noproblem. Ihaveabitterheart, youknow. Itfeelsthatnooneneedsitexceptmothers. There are cases when the body was taken to the morgue and put somewhere. Someone didn’t pass it to the next shift and it is lying there for three months. Relatives are aware that the body had come, but they hear just “wait, wait”. Then via deputies they start to pull strings and it is found out that no one touched the body yet. It happens. And there are a lot of such cases …

Contact the “Soyuz Narodnaya Pamyat” via the organizational web site or the “hot phone line” – 0 800 210 135

Denis Matsola for the Informator.lg.ua