The Wonderful Resurrection Leads to Passport Problems

Mikhail Kolotursky from the Lugansk region had a fight with his wife, slammed the door and left home in December of 2001. The bodies of two frozen men were found soon after that. One of them was identified as Mikhail Kolotursky. The man was buried in strict compliance with all formalities. A certificate of death was issued to his family.

Mikhail returned home a couple of days later, so the resurrected man had to prove to officials that he was alive and kicking. He had to spend a lot of efforts to convince the officials that he would not be able either to find a job or get an allowance without his passport. However, officials did not want to give up – they had the document that proved his death. Nina Karpachova, a human rights attorney, managed to document the "resurrection" of the unlucky man. After she interfered, officials accepted the testimony from Mikhail's neighbors and former co-workers. Fingerprints also assisted in the repeated identification, and Mikhail Kolotursky was finally pronounced alive. The "born-again" man even obtained the new passport of a Ukrainian citizen.