This could translate to tens of thousands of bodies left behind — and many years of work for the body collectors. In 2014, when Russia invaded Crimea and the Donbas region of Ukraine, Yukov helped start the Black Tulip mission. The retrieval process is identical for Ukrainian and Russian bodies, Yukov said. Ukrainian bodies are returned as quickly as possible to their grieving families, while Russian bodies are transferred to Ukrainian government hands so that they can be exchanged for Ukrainians in the possession of Russian forces. Denys Sosnenko, a former Ukrainian national kickboxing champion also from Sloviansk, was killed driving over a buried anti-tank mine while on a Black Tulip mission.

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