A Ukrainian soldier has recalled the gruesome torture he and his comrades suffered at the hands of Putin’s goons before he was forced to crawl for five days to escape
A miracle survivor of Russian torture has told how Vladimir Putin’s henchmen slit the throats, gouge the eyes and cut the genitals of their captives.
National Guard soldier Vladyslav, 33, says he climbed out of a mass grave after his throat was lacerated by soldiers as Russians left him for dead in the frontline pit. He sat alongside the hideously mutilated corpses of his comrades, but miraculously managed to crawl for five days across the frontline to Ukrainian positions.
In the grave, he cut himself free with a broken bottle and bandaged his throat with a piece of fabric, believed to be underwear. The hero is now a witness, able to recount – for now via doctors and his wife, Viktoria, because he cannot speak due to his wounds.
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The first to be captured had their eyes gouged out and their lips, genitals, ears and noses cut off, he testified in a diary he has written. Vladislav’s throat was cut — he was the last of the eight soldiers whom the Russian military threw into a pit, a mass grave, believing all were dead.
“First, they [the Russians] caught him, and then they took him to a basement,” said Viktoria. “There were two of them, and they tortured them.” His brother Yevhen said: “The first men who were taken prisoner, they were from intelligence. [The Russians] gouged out their eyes, cut off their lips, cut off their male organs, their ears.”
A Suspilne TV report said: “Vladyslav was the last of eight fighters who Russian soldiers threw into a pit. They thought they were all dead.
“After waiting for the Russian soldiers to leave, Vladyslav bandaged his throat with cloth and crawled to Ukrainian positions for almost five days.”
Viktoria said: “He says he was lucky because when they were thrown into the pit, garbage was emptied on top so he wasn’t visible. There was a broken bottle there, and since his hands were tied, he managed to cut the rope with that bottle.”
After waiting for the Russian soldiers to leave, Vladyslav bandaged his throat with underwear and crawled for almost five days to Ukrainian positions, said Dr Serhiy Ryzhenko, head of the Mechnikov Regional Clinical Hospital in Dnipro.
“When your throat is cut and you’re bleeding to death, there’s not much chance of survival,” said the senior medic. “He held on until the end, but what sets him apart is that he was confident until the very end that everything would be fine.”
The appalling torture and executions occurred near Pokrovsk, where the men were captured. Vladyslav underwent surgery and faces a tracheostomy and more operations. Doctors hope to help him speak again.