Kathrine Frich
The Ukrainian family lived with certainty that their son had died on the battlefield.
They mourned him, buried a body believed to be his, and tried to move on. Then the phone rang.
A soldier lost
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, 42-year-old Nazar Daletski returned to the front. He had already fought in 2014 and had military experience.
A few months later, he disappeared. According to the BBC, his mother later received a call from a Russian-speaking man who said Nazar was in captivity and told her that “everything will be fine.”
No official confirmation followed, and the family remained in the dark.
A funeral held
In 2023, Nazar’s mother was informed that a body found in southeastern Ukraine had been identified as her son through DNA testing.
A relative told the BBC the remains were badly burned, and similarities with missing persons records led to the conclusion it was Nazar. The family accepted the coffin, held a funeral, and began mourning.
For them, the story was over.
A first doubt
Months later, an unexpected message shattered that certainty.
A Ukrainian soldier released from Russian captivity told the family he had seen Nazar alive in prison. The report brought confusion, but no proof.
Hope remained fragile and uncertain.
The call
This week, after another prisoner exchange, the impossible happened. Nazar, exhausted but alive, called his mother from Ukrainian territory.
A recording of the call captured the family’s disbelief and joy. His mother asked if he still had his arms and legs. “My golden child, I’ve been waiting for you for so long,” she said.
“It was so strange. My son died, I buried him, and now I hear his voice,” she later told the BBC. “Happiness. Great happiness.”
Unanswered questions
Authorities are now investigating how the misidentification occurred and why the wrong body was returned to the family.
According to the BBC, around 70,000 people are officially listed as missing in Ukraine, most of them soldiers. Some are believed to have died without recoverable remains, while others may still be in captivity.
The family has begun removing funeral materials from the internet and asked for a photo of Nazar to be taken down from a local exhibition of fallen soldiers.
Hope for others
Nazar’s mother says she hopes other families will receive the same call she did.
“I wish all women, mothers, and children to receive a phone like ours – and such happiness,” she said.
She is now preparing her son’s favourite home-cooked meals, waiting for the day she can finally hug him again.
Sources: BBC, O2.
