{"id":1742,"date":"2026-07-16T06:07:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T06:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=1742"},"modified":"2026-07-16T06:07:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T06:07:08","slug":"ukraine-buries-its-unknown-soldiers-as-families-wait-for-identification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=1742","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine buries its unknown soldiers as families wait for identification"},"content":{"rendered":"
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 In a military cemetery in Kyiv, a brother and sister walk between the crosses, carrying a bunch of carnations. Each cross in that section bears the same words: \u201cunknown defender of Ukraine,\u201d with an ID number below and a note that identification is ongoing.<\/p>\n

Read more More than 500 feared dead as officials investigate reports of boats capsizing with Rohingya refugees<\/a><\/p>\n

One grave stands out: beneath the inscription, a photo was later attached, showing Ihor Yalynych, a soldier last seen alive in Kharkiv region in 2022. After four years of searching, Stanislav and Oleksandra Yalynych found their father.<\/p>\n

Identification of the dead is a reckoning that will stretch on for years, among the longest-lasting wounds of Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine.<\/span> Some graves may remain nameless forever, with the families left to wait. <\/p>\n

For most of the war, there was nowhere to bury the unidentified dead. The bodies lay in refrigerated storage while the national military cemetery was still being built. Even before the cemetery was completed in January, the first group of the unknown soldiers were laid to rest in August. More than 300 now lie beneath numbered crosses, with more graves being dug.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a daddy\u2019s girl, and I took the loss very hard,\u201d said Oleksandra Yalynych, 21. \u201cAll these four years, all I wanted was to come and sit with him, to talk. … Now I\u2019m glad we found him. Now I have somewhere to go.\u201d <\/p>\n

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One unknown soldier\u2019s story<\/h2>\n

Ihor Yalynych was killed in April 2022 in eastern Ukraine. He had served in the military since 2015, the year after armed conflict began in eastern Ukraine and Russia illegally annexed Crimea.<\/p>\n

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, he was in a brigade stationed in eastern Ukraine. He returned safely from his first mission and sent photos to his son, but he never returned from the second. <\/p>\n

After weeks of silence, Stanislav posted on social media that his father was missing. An acquaintance had seen a photo on a Russian Telegram channel \u2014 nine soldiers in Ukrainian uniform, shot and lying in a row \u2014 and recognized Ihor Yalynych among them. When Stanislav saw it, he knew that his father was among them. <\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s National Police in the Kharkiv region confirmed to AP that an investigation is underway into the deaths of a group of Ukrainian servicemen whose bodies were found in the region in April 2022, and into their identification.<\/p>\n

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Ihor\u2019s body lay in the occupied part of the region but was only recovered after the area was liberated in September 2022. The family had to navigate layers of bureaucracy, including DNA testing, before they could reclaim his remains, a process that took four years. <\/p>\n

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\u201cIt could have been faster if the police hadn\u2019t lost the case,\u201d Stanislav said. According to him, the file was sent to the police of Mykolaiv region, where his father was from, and sat unprocessed for more than two years.<\/p>\n

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