A mother shared the heart-wrenching experience of mourning her son, who she believed had died in combat at the hands of Russian forces, only to later discover that he was alive after three years. Nazar Daletskyi, aged 46, went missing while serving on the front lines in Donbas in May 2022, shortly after Vladimir Putin initiated the invasion of Ukraine. His mother, Nataliya, 73, received a final call from him reporting that their position was surrounded before all communication abruptly ceased. Subsequently, an anonymous caller informed her that Nazar had been captured.
This led to an extensive and distressing search spanning military records, social media platforms, and online communities in the following months. A year later, military authorities contacted Nataliya with devastating news – they informed her that Nazar’s body had been located, identified, and was to be repatriated to her in a body bag. Due to the severe condition of his remains, she was advised against viewing his body, and he was laid to rest in a family burial.
Just as Nataliya was preparing to erect a memorial stone in her son’s memory, she received an unexpected call in February, revealing that Nazar was alive and would be returning home as part of a prisoner exchange with Russia. In a poignant video capturing their reunion after three years, the emotional mother expressed her overwhelming joy at his return, attributing it to her unwavering prayers for a miracle.
Nazar, now dubbed “the Resurrected One” by the Ukrainian community, was surprised to learn that his family believed him to be deceased. During a conversation with his mother, she inquired about his physical condition, leading to a mix-up where she speculated that a limb may have been mistakenly identified as his. Following the initial relief, Nataliya began questioning the circumstances that led to the false report of her son’s death, discovering that she was not alone in facing such a situation.
Another case resembling this incident involved Bogdan Vovk, 34, who was declared deceased and buried in Humenets, western Ukraine, only to be later identified as alive in Russian captivity. The body mistakenly interred as his has since been exhumed for correction.
Despite these errors, Nataliya has not received an apology for the distress caused. Instead, authorities requested the return of the 15 million hryvnia (£250,000) compensation she had received, a portion of which was utilized for her son’s memorial expenses. The misidentification of bodies has been linked to challenges such as overcrowded mortuaries and outdated identification methods. To address this issue, the Ukrainian government is advocating for mandatory dental X-rays and fingerprinting for all military personnel upon enlistment to ensure accurate identification in post-mortem scenarios.