You come out of positions with your hands full of everything that explodes and kills — says Netyosov, about search operations at battle sites in the Kyiv region

Pavel Netyosov, head of the international association of researchers of the «Citadel» fortification, spoke about the search for the bodies of those killed in the battles in the Kyiv region.

Pavlo Netyosov: We are working on the former positions of the Russians, looking for artifacts and documentation. We work together with the Ministry of Defense, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The direction of our activity is museum work. First, it is a collection of exhibits to create expositions.

We actually started working in the Kyiv region on February 24^th. First, there were combat operations, and then we carried out research and search work in those places. It is a continuous process. First, there’s the war, then we collect the bodies of the dead: first ours, then Russian. After that, we began to collect exhibits and this process happens constantly.

If we find the bodies of Russian soldiers, we report it to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and they record it. This is then passed on to the military, who hand over the body for exchange. This is a very thorough and complex process.

How is the research work going?

Pavlo Netyosov: At first, we worked with pyrotechnical experts in a team. Now there is no such thing. We enter the positions independently. Of course, we have some skills, but if we find something explosive or suspicious, we immediately notify the Ministry of Emergency Situations. We always find something. We go on these routes and then we leave with our hands full of everything that explodes and kills.

We have a big problem with locals. They go to the battlefields on their own to find something. Sometimes they can get blown up. It’s dangerous there and there is no need to go there at all.

Military property, even destroyed, belongs to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In fact, people who pick up leftovers from machinery or anything else are looting. It should be punished. However, now is not the time to pay attention to it. Unfortunately, such actions take place all over Ukraine.

• Almost the entire Kyiv region has already been cleared of equipment. It remained in some places in forests and hard-to-reach places.

What do you find in the Russian positions?

Pavlo Netyosov: We find a lot. Newspapers, for example. It surprised us. Newspapers with propaganda which were delivered almost every day to military positions. In this way, they kept the occupiers on their toes regarding their aggressive attitude towards Ukrainians and Ukraine as a whole.

When they ran away, they discarded everything. We found personal things, documents in the pockets of things.

All this remains in the museum. If these things are needed for an investigation, we provide them upon request.

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