Ukrainian soldier returns from the dead

Nazar Daletskyi walks between the graves in the cemetery of his home village, Velykyi Doroshiv, overlooking the broad countryside of western Ukraine. Yellow-and-blue flags move in the wind above the graves of fallen soldiers. Seven flags stand in the small cemetery.

Daletskyi passes them before stopping silently in front of one grave. It is his own.

His mother had learned that her son was dead, killed in the war. DNA evidence appeared to confirm it, and she buried him, although she did not believe he had died. Daletskyi later returned, alive after spending time in Russian captivity.

His story raises questions about how a Ukrainian soldier could be officially declared dead and buried while still alive in captivity. It also reflects the confusion surrounding missing soldiers and the failures of the authorities handling wartime identifications.