Objects found alongside the remains of fallen soldiers in a forest near the village of Mazanivka, Donetsk Oblast, on Jan. 13, 2025. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi)
Editor’s note: This story contains graphic images.
War leaves behind more than ruins and destroyed cities — it carves an invisible mark in the form of the missing and the dead. One of the most painful and challenging aspects of war is the fate of fallen soldiers, whose bodies remain on the battlefield, in trenches, on minefields, or in occupied territories.
According to Ukrainian officials, at least 55,000 people were considered missing as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war as of September 2024. At least 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukrainian photographer Viacheslav Ratynskyi joined Platsdarm (Bridgehead in Ukrainian) Organization for several missions to recover fallen soldiers in Kharkiv and Donetsk oblasts in October 2024 and January 2025.
Platsdarm is a group of volunteers founded by Oleksii Yukov in 2014, when Russia launched its initial invasion of Ukraine. Since the beginning of Moscow’s full-scale war, Platsdarm has found the bodies of more than 3,000 fallen Ukrainian soldiers. Platsdarm also recovers the bodies of Russian soldiers which are later exchanged by the Ukrainian government.
"My goal is to lift the veil on this hidden process and document the journey of the fallen."
“This is a visual exploration of one of the war’s most taboo subjects — one that rarely makes headlines: the reality of death and how Ukrainians honor their fallen. My goal is to lift the veil on this hidden process and document the journey of the fallen — from the mine-laden forests to black body bags, from refrigerated trucks to forensic examination tables and DNA labs, and finally, to their eternal resting place in the soil,” Ratynskyi says.
Every mission begins at the place of death — whether on the active front line, where search teams work under relentless shelling, or former battlefields, where they painstakingly collect scattered remains from minefields. Every finding can be a crucial key to identification. These traces may be small — torn uniforms, dog tags, personal belongings, bones, teeth, or even DNA remnants that help establish a soldier’s identity.
Once remains are recovered, they are carefully packaged and transported to specialized laboratories for genetic analysis. The identification process is incredibly complex, as remains are often found in a severely deteriorated state — burned, damaged, or scattered. If the remains can be identified, they are returned to the soldier’s family, offering them a final chance to grieve and lay their loved one to rest.
This is one of the most agonizing moments, when families receive the opportunity to bury their relatives with dignity and honor them properly – and yet it also gives clarity and allows them to finally find a semblance of peace.
Members of the "Platsdarm" volunteer organization search for fallen Ukrainian soldiers' remains near Sulyhivka, Kharkiv Oblast, on Oct. 22, 2024. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi)Oleksii Yukov, head of the search organization "Platsdarm," holds a perforated helmet belonging to an unidentified soldier in a forest near the village of Mazanivka, Donetsk Oblast, on Jan. 13, 2025. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi)Members of the "Platsdarm" search organization carry bags containing the remains of unidentified soldiers in a forest near the village of Mazanivka, Donetsk Oblast, on Jan. 13, 2025. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi)
L: A grenade found near the remains of soldiers rests on a body bag in a forest near the village of Mazanivka, Donetsk Oblast, on Jan. 13, 2025. C: A cap found alongside the remains of a soldier in a forest near the village of Mazanivka, Donetsk Oblast, on Jan. 13, 2025. R: A chain found near the remains of soldiers lies on a body bag in a forest near the village of Mazanivka, Donetsk Oblast, on Jan. 13, 2025. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi)Members of the "Platsdarm" search organization pose for a photo in a forest near Mazanivka, Donetsk Oblast, on Jan. 13, 2025. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi)
L: A Ukrainian passport found alongside the remains of a soldier in a forest near the village of Mazanivka, Donetsk Oblast, on Jan. 13, 2025. R: A beret insignia of a Ukrainian soldier found alongside remains near the village of Sulyhivka, Kharkiv Oblast, on Oct. 22, 2024. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi)A "Platsdarm" search team member carries a bag containing the skull of an unidentified soldier in a forest near the village of Mazanivka, Donetsk Oblast, on Jan. 13, 2025. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi)A DNA lab worker holds a fragment of a jawbone in Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, on Feb. 11, 2025. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi)A DNA lab worker examines the remains of unidentified soldiers in Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, on Feb. 11, 2025. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi)Serhii Levchenko, 26, a soldier from the Civil-Military Cooperation unit of the 81st Air Assault Brigade, waits for the arrival of bodies of fallen soldiers in Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, on Jan. 16, 2025. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi)The family of fallen Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr Rastorhuev, 39, sees his body for the first time since he died in the village of Rokytne, Kharkiv Oblast, on Jan. 22, 2025. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi)Graves of temporarily unidentified Ukrainian soldiers at Krasnopilske Cemetery in Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, on Feb. 12, 2025. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi)
This project was developed through UAPP's annual grant program for documentary photographers, supported by the International Press Institute.
Viacheslav Ratynskyi is a Ukrainian photo reporter and documentary photographer. He works as a photojournalist mostly for Reuters and other media as a contributor. Viacheslav is a member of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers (UAPP).
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