Surprise phone call raises Ukrainian mother's hopes she'll see son again after fearing him dead
ITV News Global Security Editor Rohit Kachroo speaks to a Ukrainian mother who reveals how a surprise phone call on Mother's Day may lead to her reuniting with her son
A Ukrainian mother who feared her son was killed by a Russian sniper has expressed her immense relief after being given hope he is still alive.
Tetiana has been searching for her son since Russian troops withdrew from Bucha in April, suspecting he had been killed by hostile soldiers in a secluded woodland area.
But a surprise phone call from a man arrested by Russian forces has given her hope. He told her he had been imprisoned with her son.
Speaking to ITV News at the time, Tetiana told Global Security Editor Rohit Kachroo that her son warned her to stay away, telling her "it is not a movie" but a "real war" in their last conversation on March 1.
Having giving up all hope, a mysterious call on Mother's Day gave her belief they may still be reunited. The man on the other end of the phone revealed how her son had been arrested by Russian forces.
"A male voice added 'are you looking for so and so?' Yes," she said, referring to the prisoner, who decided to track Tetiana's family down following his release from prison.
"They sent a picture, asking 'is this him'? Yes," Tetiana went on to explain.
"And he said 'I was in the same prison as him in Kursk'."
Tetiana said she is "scared" of the moment of meeting her son again, describing the anticipated experience like being her "new birth".
Her son's fate will be decided by Russian authorities, but his return home is now a real possibility.
A wealthy northwest Kyiv commuter town before Ukraine was invaded in February, the name of Bucha is now synonymous with Russian war crimes.
ITV News has investigated three separate atrocities in Bucha which reflect the wider indiscriminate assaults carried out by invading forces during the war.
Ukrainian officials said hundreds of civilians had been found dead since the Russians' withdrawal, which revealed mass graves, sparking an international outcry.
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