A 33-year-old Ukrainian National Guard soldier has miraculously survived having his throat slashed by Russian forces before crawling for five days to reach safety, in what medical staff describe as the most severe injury they have treated in 11 years of war. Vladyslav, whose surname has been withheld, endured brutal torture alongside fellow prisoners before being thrown into a pit with seven executed comrades.
The soldier was captured near Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine several weeks ago when his brigade lost control of a position. He was attempting to help his comrades when Russian forces seized him and took him to a basement where systematic torture was taking place.
Vladyslav’s wife, Viktoriia, told Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne: “First, he was caught by one group, and then they were taken to a basement. There were completely different soldiers there. There were two of them, and they tormented the prisoners.”
Horrific Torture and Mutilation
According to Vladyslav’s written account, Russian forces subjected the first captured Ukrainian soldiers to extreme brutality. His brother Yevhen revealed the shocking details: “The first men who were captured had their eyes gouged out, lips cut off, male organs mutilated, and ears and noses removed.”
The torture was systematic and prolonged. Vladyslav watched as seven of his fellow soldiers were brutally murdered before Russian forces turned on him. After slashing his throat, they threw him into a pit with the bodies of his executed comrades, believing he was dead.
“He says he was lucky that when they threw them into the pit, they poured more garbage on top so it wouldn’t be so visible,” Viktoriia explained. “There was a broken bottle there, and his hands were tied, so he was able to cut the rope with that bottle.”
Five Days of Agony
After waiting for the Russian soldiers to leave, Vladyslav tied a cloth around his throat to stem the bleeding and began an agonising five-day journey to Ukrainian positions. Unable to speak due to his injuries, he survived drinking the blood of mice as he crawled through hostile territory.
On 17 August, he was finally admitted to a medical facility in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in critical condition. He had lost a massive amount of blood, and his wounds had become severely infected with maggots.
Serhii Ryzhenko, the hospital’s chief doctor, expressed astonishment at his survival: “When someone’s throat is cut, and they are bleeding to death, there is little chance of survival. 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.”
Defying Death, Seeking Justice
Despite his horrific ordeal, Vladyslav has already expressed determination to return to the battlefield. In a message to his brother, he wrote: “Those bastards should feel what he and seven of his fellow soldiers felt.”
The director of the hospital treating Vladyslav confirmed this was the first time in 11 years of war they had encountered such severe injuries in a surviving patient. Medical staff have already performed surgery, with ENT surgeons committed to ensuring he can speak independently again.
Vladyslav’s biggest dream now is to see his four-year-old daughter, even as he contemplates returning to fight for his country once recovered.
Systematic War Crimes
The incident represents part of a disturbing pattern of Russian war crimes against Ukrainian prisoners of war. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Yurii Bielousov reported in May 2025 that authorities are investigating 268 executions of Ukrainian POWs by Russian forces, with 208 executed on the battlefield and 59 in detention facilities.
The trend has accelerated dramatically. While 11 prisoners were executed in 2023, this number rose to 149 in 2024, with 51 already executed in the first months of 2025. UN monitors reported in February that they had documented 79 executions in 24 separate incidents since August 2024 alone.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission found that over 95 per cent of released Ukrainian POWs testified to violations including torture, denial of medical care, and forced confessions. Common torture methods include severe beatings, electric shocks, suffocation, mock executions, and sexual violence.
International Response
Human Rights groups have condemned Russia’s systematic abuse of prisoners. Danielle Bell, head of the UN monitoring mission, stated: “These incidents did not occur in a vacuum. Public figures in the Russian Federation have explicitly called for inhumane treatment, and even execution, of captured Ukrainian military personnel.”
In June, a shocking video emerged showing an unmasked Russian soldier filming himself counting down before executing a fallen Ukrainian prisoner with his Kalashnikov rifle. The footage, believed to have been captured in the Kharkiv region, prompted Ukraine’s Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets to warn about the torture POWs are suffering.
Amnesty International reported in March 2025 that Russian authorities have subjected Ukrainian prisoners to war crimes and crimes against humanity, including torture, prolonged incommunicado detention, and enforced disappearance.
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, declared: “Russia’s systemic incommunicado detention of Ukrainian POWs and civilians reflects a deliberate policy designed to dehumanise and silence them, leaving their families in agony as they wait for news about their loved ones.
The International Criminal Court continues to investigate these violations as evidence mounts of systematic Russian brutality against Ukrainian prisoners, with calls growing for accountability under international law.
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