In the Carpathians, they found the remains of 15 soldiers of the First World War (PHOTO)

In Ukrainian Carpathians, in the Uzhok National Park (Transcarpathia), the International Humanitarian search expedition "Cheremkha 2013" took place.

Volunteers from six regions of Ukraine as well as from Russia, Belarus, Hungary and Slovakia, under the direction of qualified and competent professionals jointly performed search, examination and exhumation of the remains of soldiers who died during the World War I on the slopes of the Carpathians.

The organizers of the expedition – Ukrainian public organization "Soyuz "Narodna Pamyat", NGO "Poshuk-Zakhid" (Uzhgorod) and the Federation of Scouts "Galytska Rus" (Lviv).

The implementation of the event was made possible thanks to the support of the State Interagency Committee for commemoration of the victims of war and political repression under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and Anatoliy Lisitsyn Foundation (Russia, Yaroslavl).

For six months, from October 1914 until the end of April 1915, the Cheremkha Mt. was the scene of fierce and bloody battles known as the Carpathian operation. 

The expedition started on August 20. The Executive Secretary of the State Interagency Committee, President of the "Narodna Pamyat" Yaroslav Zhilkin, assistant member of the Federation Council of Russia in Yaroslavl region Anatoliy Lisitsyn, Dmitry Sokolov, the President of the NGO "Poshuk-Zakhid" Oleksander Rusin, the Chairman of the Audit Committee of the National Organization of Scouts of Ukraine Kirilo Arbatov personally participated in the expidition.

In twelve days, despite the difficult weather conditions, at an altitude of 900 meters above sea level, the volunteers managed to find and exhume the remains of 15 soldiers: seven soldiers of the army of Austria-Hungary and eight soldiers of the Russian imperial army.

The material finds, including fragments of weapons and ammunition, as well as personal belongings of the war period, give researchers interesting information about the course of the war operations, life and living conditions of the participants of the First World War. Soldiers’ lockets with fragments of notes are especially valuable. Historians hope that after their examination at the Bureau of Forensic Science, they will return the names of the dead soldiers from oblivion.

All raised human remains will be reburied in compliance with all Christian traditions at the Memorial Cemetery, and the items, found during the expedition, will be added to the museum funds of Uzhgorod and Velyky Berezny district in Transcarpathian region.

The Executive Secretary of the State Interagency Committee for commemoration of the victims of war and political repression under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Head of the NGO "Soyuz "Narodna Pamyat" Yaroslav Zhilkin: "The international expedition "Cheremkha 2013" was successful intermediate result of dedication and teamwork of historians and searchers which aims at perpetuation of the memory of all soldiers who died on our land during the First World War.