Overview
- The 33-year-old National Guard member, identified as Vladyslav, was reportedly captured near Pokrovsk, had his throat cut, and was thrown into a pit for dead.
- He crawled for five days through hostile territory to reach Ukrainian-held areas and documented the ordeal in writing because he cannot speak.
- Doctors in the Dnipropetrovsk region say he arrived on 17 August in critical condition with infected wounds that required immediate surgery.
- The hospital’s chief physician described survival after such a neck injury as exceedingly rare, noting the usual chances are minimal.
- His notes allege mutilation of prisoners by Russian soldiers, and Ukraine’s prosecutor general recently reported at least 273 POW executions in a single month.