Frode Fjerdingstad

In a secret location in Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine, volunteers honour fallen soldiers left behind on battlefields. "Everyone deserves a resting place," insists Oleksii Yukov. He leads the volunteer organisation Platsdarm in Sloviansk. "Our duty is to bring them home, including Russian soldiers." Nearly every week, they venture into the most dangerous areas of the frontline in Ukraine.

"They seem so alone. I promise to bring them back,"

 For many families, Yukov is their last hope for closure.

 A red ribbon indicates that a Russian soldier was infected with HIV. The metal chip has a number that makes it possible to identify them.

The number plate on their cars reads "200," indicating they carry the dead. A Bible, a ticking clock, each item found tells a life lost in vain. "These were people's lives," he reflects, often about Russian soldiers left for over a year.

“These aren't just some bones. This was a person's whole life, which ended for nothing.” 

“Sometimes we find clocks that are still ticking.”

This bible was just found in the pocket of a deceased Wagner soldier.

 Platsdarm delivers bodies to Ukrainian authorities. Ukrainians are buried in their native soil; Russians are exchanged for fallen Ukrainian soldiers.

The death toll of this war remains uncertain—tens to hundreds of thousands lost.

Yukov aims to save soldiers' souls, prompting Russian families to urge an end to war. “Would you want your children's lives to end in a black bag? Be proud of those who live. Say no, stop this war. It is in their power.”

Reporter: Kari Skeie/NRK

Photo: ©Frode Fjerdingstad/NRK

Russians at war with Putin

At a secret location in Ukraine soldiers are training to storm the enemy. But the soldiers are from Russia and The Sibir Battalion fights under Ukrainian command. One of them is ‘Sizy’ from Moscow. The soldier ‘Sizy’ picks cartridges from a small box. With quick movements, he fills the magazine.

- ‘I think it was a criminal offence for Russia to go to war. As a Russian, I couldn't stand by and watch this war unfold,’ he says.

Live ammunition is being fired around the trenches set up for training.

Soldiers in the Siberian Battalion practise storming the enemy with live ammunition and real grenades.

What the Russian soldiers here have in common is that they are strongly opposed to the war in Ukraine. They also believe that the time for peaceful protest in Putin's Russia is over.

The soldiers are practising what they will encounter at the front. Both Ukraine and Russia have dug kilometres of trenches.

Soon it will be ‘Sizy’'s turn to run into the trenches.

He has not yet been in combat, but may be sent to the front shortly.

His training is coming to an end.

As ‘Sizy’ sneaks through the trenches, he is watched closely.

The Ukrainian instructor ‘Batja’ gives orders and feedback. He believes the Russian soldiers are highly motivated.

The Ukrainian ‘Batja’ leads the soldiers in the Siberian Battalion.

- ‘Nationality doesn't matter. The most important thing is that we have the same goal.

The Sibir Battalion was established in October 2023. At the time, it was estimated that it consisted of around 60 Russian citizens.

The soldiers come from all over Russia. Many are from various minorities in Siberia.

Reporter: Kari Skeie/NRK

Photo: ©Frode Fjerdingstad/NRK