Nazar Daletskyi's family were sure the soldier had been killed in action. In 2023, they'd buried his body in the village cemetery, in western Ukraine. But Nazar has just phoned his mother, weakened and exhausted - but very much alive. He's been released from Russian captivity in the latest prisoner swap. 'My emotions were so strong,' the soldier's mother Nataliya told the BBC, still reeling from the shock. The joy of all the family at that first call, captured on video, is overwhelming.
Nataliya asks her son whether he's intact, 'You have your arms, your legs, everything?' she wants to know. 'My golden child, I have been waiting for you so long.' Nazar's cousin, Roksolana, is screaming and jumping for joy in the background. 'It was so strange, because my son had died, I buried him, but here's his voice. Can you imagine the emotions of a mother? Happiness. Great happiness. I could not hold back my tears,' Nataliya said.
The full story of Nazar's return from the grave is extraordinary, especially in a country at war where good news is precious. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, Nazar - who was 42 then - went straight back to the front: he'd already fought in 2014, so he was experienced. 'He didn't have any doubt. He went immediately,' his cousin told the BBC. But in May that first year, Nazar went missing in action.
His mother then got a call from a man speaking Russian who said Nazar had been captured, but 'everything will be fine'. The mystery voice didn't say where Nazar was, who was holding him - or whether he was injured. That was until a year later, when Nataliya was informed that a body had been identified in a morgue in south-eastern Ukraine, using a sample of DNA she had given, leading to the family's closure with his funeral.
However, last September they got the biggest shock of all. A soldier, just released by Russia, called to tell them Nazar was alive. Then this week, he called - back on Ukrainian soil. Nataliya's son had been gone for three years and nine months. The family is now busy preparing for his much-anticipated return, focusing on joyful reunions rather than the mourning they had endured for so long. Nataliya expresses her desire for other families to experience the same joy: 'I wish all women, mothers, children get a call like we had - and this happiness.'
Nataliya asks her son whether he's intact, 'You have your arms, your legs, everything?' she wants to know. 'My golden child, I have been waiting for you so long.' Nazar's cousin, Roksolana, is screaming and jumping for joy in the background. 'It was so strange, because my son had died, I buried him, but here's his voice. Can you imagine the emotions of a mother? Happiness. Great happiness. I could not hold back my tears,' Nataliya said.
The full story of Nazar's return from the grave is extraordinary, especially in a country at war where good news is precious. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, Nazar - who was 42 then - went straight back to the front: he'd already fought in 2014, so he was experienced. 'He didn't have any doubt. He went immediately,' his cousin told the BBC. But in May that first year, Nazar went missing in action.
His mother then got a call from a man speaking Russian who said Nazar had been captured, but 'everything will be fine'. The mystery voice didn't say where Nazar was, who was holding him - or whether he was injured. That was until a year later, when Nataliya was informed that a body had been identified in a morgue in south-eastern Ukraine, using a sample of DNA she had given, leading to the family's closure with his funeral.
However, last September they got the biggest shock of all. A soldier, just released by Russia, called to tell them Nazar was alive. Then this week, he called - back on Ukrainian soil. Nataliya's son had been gone for three years and nine months. The family is now busy preparing for his much-anticipated return, focusing on joyful reunions rather than the mourning they had endured for so long. Nataliya expresses her desire for other families to experience the same joy: 'I wish all women, mothers, children get a call like we had - and this happiness.'
