Asger Risom
A Ukrainian soldier who was declared dead after DNA tests and buried in 2023 has been found alive after nearly three years in Russian captivity. Nazar Daletskyi was released in a prisoner exchange earlier this year and shocked his family when he called his mother with the words: “Mom, I’m alive.”
For nearly three years, Nataliia Daletska believed her only son had died in the war.
Officials told her DNA tests had confirmed the worst. A coffin was brought to her village in western Ukraine, and Nazar Daletskyi — a volunteer soldier who had joined the fight against Russia — was buried with full military honors.
Then one day, the phone rang.
“Mom, I’m alive.”
The voice on the other end was her son.
Declared dead after DNA identification
Nazar Daletskyi volunteered for the Ukrainian army in the early weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
During the early days at the front, he would call his mother every day with a short message.
“Mom, I’m alive,” he would say before quickly hanging up.
Then the calls stopped.
One night, Nataliia received a brief phone call from a stranger who told her Nazar had been captured.
Months later, Ukrainian officials delivered devastating news: Nazar had died in September 2022 after a convoy in the Donetsk region was attacked. DNA tests had reportedly confirmed the identity of his remains.
His body was returned to his hometown of Velykyi Doroshiv near Lviv in two sealed bags.
Nataliia buried her son beside his father and visited the grave every week.
Funeral, mourning and a national honor
The funeral drew crowds from across the village.
Eight priests led prayers as a military band played a funeral march. A Ukrainian uniform was placed over the coffin, and Nataliia placed some of Nazar’s personal belongings inside.
She also added biscuits and chocolate.
“I thought the poor boy had been a prisoner, he must have been hungry,” she later recalled.
In May 2024, Nazar was posthumously awarded a military decoration signed by Ukrainian army commander Oleksandr Syrskyi.
The grief took a heavy toll on his mother’s health. She was hospitalized multiple times with stress and high blood pressure.
Still, she continued visiting the cemetery every Sunday.
Rumors he might still be alive
The first hint that something was wrong came last year.
Two Ukrainian prisoners of war who returned from Russia told relatives they had seen Nazar alive during captivity.
Nataliia allowed herself a small hope but refused to believe it fully without hearing her son’s voice.
Police collected new DNA samples as authorities began re-examining the case.
Earlier this year, Ukrainian officials finally confirmed the unimaginable: Nazar was alive and had been held in Russian captivity for nearly three years.
The phone call that changed everything
In February, Nazar was released during a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia.
After crossing back into Ukrainian territory, he was handed a phone.
The emotional moment when he called his mother was captured on video and quickly spread across Ukrainian social media.
“God, how long I have waited to hear from you, my dear child,” Nataliia said through tears.
“Do you have hands, do you have legs? Are you whole?”
Recovering after captivity
Nazar is now undergoing rehabilitation at a medical center in Ukraine.
He and his mother speak through daily video calls, though they have not yet been reunited in person.
He has said little about his time in Russian captivity, but hinted he was frequently beaten.
Many Ukrainian prisoners of war report torture, humiliation and abuse in Russian detention facilities.
Nataliia says her son still suffers from severe pain in his legs and is disturbed by loud noises.
“But he’s fine in his head,” she said.
A mystery still unresolved
The extraordinary reunion has left one painful question unanswered.
If Nazar was alive the entire time, whose remains were buried in his grave?
Authorities exhumed the body earlier this year, and new DNA testing is underway.
Somewhere, officials fear, another family may soon receive devastating news about a missing relative.
For Nataliia, however, the focus is on the moment she has been waiting for since 2022.
When Nazar finally comes home, she already knows how she will greet him.
“I’m going to hug him as tightly as he once hugged me,” she said.
Sources: The Guardian
