In the early spring, a digger reached out to our team for help. He had researched the place of death of the Soviet soldier and asked for help to dig it out for proper burial. Of course, we enthusiastically took on this challenge, despite a heavy downpour of rain that almost stopped us from doing the dig.

Exhumation of an unknown  soldier. We remember!

As soon as we approached the site, the rain stopped. (and started up again right when we finished the dig…maybe a sign?). The burial site between a forest road and the huge old tree. It’s crazy to think about how people have walked here and how many cars driven up and down the road, not realizing that there has been a soldier buried there all along!

Bones of a dead soldier. Photo from the special search organization “Vertical” archive.

The bones lay at a mere depth of 20 centimeters. After investigating the body, we could tell that the hero died from a bullet in the head, with a bullet hole in his helmet and skull. The helmet lay next to the skeleton and does not appear in the photo. This soldier died at the exit of an encirclement in Kiev in 1941.

Where the heart used to beat is now just earth and roots …Photo from the special search organization “Vertical” archive.

Even though we’ve seen many dead bodies, it is still a terrible sight to see the roots of a tree sprouting through the ribs!

In the soldier’s pocket lay a mirror and few coins. Photo from the special search organization “Vertical” archive.

Perhaps he wrote letters home with this pen.  Photo from the special search organization “Vertical” archive.

There are no boots on the soldier. Most likely, they were taken by someone else when he was buried. Photo from the special search organization “Vertical” archive.

Read: Victory Day

Thanks to the guys from the special search organization “Vertical” for their work in finding the dead and missing soldiers.