The true toll of the war in Ukraine is measured in bodies. This man brings them home, one at a time

Yukov says the same thing to all the mothers. He tells them to talk about their dead children, so they will be remembered. There is one person in particular whose story Yukov does not want forgotten: Oleksandr Romanovych Hrysiuk — Sasha, to his mother, Olha.

In a cryptic voice message last year, Yukov urged Olha to tell Sasha’s story. “Not everyone has such a story,” he told her.

But he left out the most important part: What it had cost him to bring Sasha home.

The true toll of the war in Ukraine — and the odds faced by each side — can be measured in bodies. The question of who has the upper hand.