Careful, persistent, and genuinely good at what he does
I first contacted Oleg in March 2025 to research my Ukrainian grandparents, knowing almost nothing beyond their names and that they left Ukraine after the Second World War. Over the past year he has found my grandmother's parents' 1921 marriage record in Sokyryntsi, her father's First World War prisoner of war card, four generations of the Kosyi family back to the 1820s in the 1904 residents' list, the death record of an uncle I never knew existed, and the restored birth record of a half-sister I also didn't know about. A whole branch of family I had no idea about.What makes Oleg worth hiring is not just that he finds things. It's that he is careful. When I kept sending him possible matches from Ancestry that turned out to be the wrong people, he patiently explained why each one didn't fit rather than just agreeing. When the first set of residents' lists turned out to be mixed up with a neighbouring village, he said so, went back to the archives, and found the right ones. When records had been destroyed — birth records for Sokyryntsi 1901–1934, the wartime census, the Holodomor death books — he told me clearly rather than filling the gap with guesses.He is also honest about what he cannot do. When paid archival research had gone as far as it could, he pointed me toward Facebook village groups and local councils rather than keep taking money for work that wouldn't yield much. That kind of straight advice is rare and I appreciated it.Communication has been reliable throughout. Replies within a day or two, clear quotes before starting any new work, proper scanned copies of every document with source citations (fonds, inventory, file, page). For someone based in the UK trying to research family in Vinnytsia region, he made something that should have been impossible feel straightforward.If you are trying to trace Ukrainian ancestry, I recommend him without hesitation.

Besvarelse fra Oleg Verbliudov the Genealogist - Historical Bureau LLC

