“My emotions were so strong,” his mother, Nataliya, told the BBC. His family’s joy was captured on video and is now making the rounds on social media. Nataliya can be seen asking her son if he is unharmed. “Do you still have your arms, your legs, everything?” she wants to know.
Prisoner exchange
Nazar was reportedly released from Russian captivity in the most recent prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia and had not died at all, as his family had all along believed.
“It was so strange because my son had died, I had buried him, but there was his voice. Can you imagine the emotions of a mother? Happiness. Extreme happiness. I couldn’t hold back my tears,” Nataliya said.
Watch the moment of the call here:
When Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, Nazar (then 42 years old) returned to the front, where he had also fought for his country in 2014. “He didn’t hesitate for a moment. He went straight away,” his cousin told the BBC. But a few months later, in May, Nazar went missing.
A year later, the family was notified that Nazar’s body had been found and identified in a morgue in southeastern Ukraine. “The body was badly burned. They had found several in a burned-out bus. When they went to look at the lists of missing soldiers, the data matched,” his niece Roksolana explained. The family received the body, organized his funeral and mourned Nazar.
Bell
Last year in September the family got their first shock when another soldier who had just been released by the Russians called the family to tell them that Nazar was still alive. He would have seen him in prison. Still, the family couldn’t know for sure if this was true until he called himself this week.
Right now, the family is waiting for their grand reunion from Nazar. His mother is said to be preparing all his favorite dishes for when Nazar has recovered enough to come home. “I would wish all women, mothers and children to receive a call like the one we received – and such happiness,” says Nataliya. “Now I’m just waiting for my son to hug him as tight as possible. I love him very much.”
