Searching for bodies with the Ukrainian captain collecting Russian corpses

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October 1, 2022 at 1:00 a.m. EDT
Capt. Anton works to recover a decayed body in a field near Tsyrkuny, in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, on Sept. 24. (Sasha Maslov for The Washington Post)
6 min

TSYRKUNY, Ukraine — When there’s a Russian corpse that needs collecting, Capt. Anton gets the call. Sometimes, he’ll receive a text with coordinates of where the body is located. Other times, people offer to lead him to the site.

After single-handedly bagging more than 250 dead enemy soldiers, Anton has created something of a reputation in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region. Rather than spending time and energy searching for corpses, he can now work off referrals.