A Ukrainian soldier who miraculously survived torture at the hands of Russian troops has shared the story of his daring escape.
There have been continuous allegations of Russian soldiers inflicting torture on Ukrainians. The Human Rights Council was informed in March about accusations of rapes, tortures, and executions of innocent Ukrainians, leaving families in anguish without any news of their loved ones.
Panel member and lawyer, Vrinda Grover, recounted a woman’s chilling ordeal.
“A civilian woman who had been raped during confinement in a detention facility held by Russian authorities stated that she pleaded with the perpetrators, telling them she could be their mother’s age, but they dismissed her saying, ‘B*tch, don’t even compare yourself to my mother. You are not even a human. You do not deserve to live’,” she shared.
However, it’s not only civilians who are reportedly suffering, but Ukrainian soldiers as well, including 33-year-old National Guardsman Vladislav.
According to reports, Vladislav’s throat was slashed by Russian soldiers before he was discarded into a pit with seven deceased comrades.
Captured men preceding Vladislav, believed to be from intelligence, were allegedly subjected to horrific mutilations including eyes gouged out, lips and male organs severed, and ears along with noses cut off.
Vladislav and the bodies of his fellow soldiers were reportedly covered with garbage to hide them, which inadvertently aided Vladislav’s survival.
Due to his injuries, Vladislav is unable to speak, but he conveyed his ordeal in writing, which his wife Victoria relayed to Ukrainian news platform Suspilne.
“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,” she said.
“There was a broken bottle there, and his hands were tied, so he was able to cut the rope with that bottle.”
Vladislav then crawled for five days until he reached a safe location, where he was subsequently taken to a medical facility in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
On arrival, Vladislav was in critical condition, with his doctor indicating the severe bleeding from his neck wound had caused his skin to start rotting.
“When they cut your throat, when a person is bleeding out, there are few chances,” his doctor said. “He held on to the end, but, you know, what makes it different is that he was sure to the end that everything would be fine.”