Funds lacking for recovery of dead

KYIV – Since September 2014, Yaroslav Zhilkin has relentlessly scoured eastern Ukraine for the remains of soldiers killed in the conflict pitting government forces against pro-Russian separatists who control large swathes of the region. It’s a grim and arduous task. But above all, Mr. Zhilkin is weary of begging Ukrainian authorities for support. His volunteer group, Black Tulip, announced at the end of July that it was halting its casualty recovery effort due to a lack of funds. As the government in Kyiv scrambles to stamp out the separatist insurgency and avert economic collapse, the responsibility of retrieving the dead left behind in eastern Ukraine has rested squarely on Black Tulip’s 50 volunteers. Black Tulip, named after a cargo plane that repatriated the remains of soldiers killed during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, has already enabled numerous families to lay their loved ones to rest. Mr. Zhilkin has sent letters to ministers, deputies and even to President Petro Poroshenko, asking for help in recovering the bodies of 200 government fighters still believed to be strewn across the conflict zone. So far, his pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Through its newly formed department overseeing cooperation between the military and civilians, the Ukrainian armed forces have helped establish a safety corridor for the volunteers. It has also provided fuel. For all the rest, from body bags to refrigerated trucks, Black Tulip has had to rely on private donations and on its volunteers’ own resources. Volunteers have since brought back hundreds of bags filled with human remains. Mr. Zhilkin, however, can’t say how many soldiers and other government forces have received a proper burial thanks to his group. “You can’t really talk of bodies,” he says. “We recovered 609 bags with bodies and body parts. We have no feedback from medical examiners, and most of the time the bodies we bring back are very difficult to identify.” The remains of soldiers killed in action often lie for months before being found. Many are too charred to be identified. Due to the lack of dental records or identification tags among government forces, Ukraine’s military has been forced to hold mass burials for unknown soldiers who have died in combat. Mr. Zhilkin is now in talks with officials in Kyiv to finally obtain state funding for his group. (Andrei Shary and Claire Bigg, RFE/RL)