A Ukrainian soldier, who suffered a brutal ordeal of having his throat slit and being buried alive, managed to crawl back to safety over five days and has pledged to return to the battlefield.
Vladislav, aged 33, recounted the horrifying torture he and his fellow soldiers endured at the hands of Putin’s forces, who subjected them to mutilation and castration.
The brave solider, who is unable to speak, wrote his horrific experiences in a diary which has been shared by his family.
Putin’s bloodthirsty forces also gouged out the hostages’ eyes, cut off their lips and disfigured their faces, according to Vladislav.
His capture occurred in early August while attempting to aid fellow soldiers captured after a position near Pokrovsk, located on the front line in Donetsk, was overtaken.
Vladislav’s brother, Yevhen, shared that the initial captives, who were part of an intelligence unit, suffered severe disfigurement, including gouged eyes, severed lips, and other brutal injuries.
The Ukrainian was then thrown into a pit alongside seven dead comrades before being covered in garbage as part of the horrifying mass grave.
Vladislav’s wife, Victoria, explained to Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne that her husband considers himself lucky because when thrown into the pit, additional debris was piled on top, making it less noticeable.
“There was a broken bottle there, and his hands were tied, so he was able to cut the rope with that bottle.”
The determined soldier then spent a total of five gruelling days dragging himself back to the front line to reach safety.
He covered his throat with a makeshift bandage before setting off on the life-or-death escape mission.
He reached fellow Ukrainians there on August 17 before he was rushed to hospital.
Vladislav had lost a severe amount of blood, and his wound had even begun to rot, a medic in the Ukrainian military said.
The doctor told Suspilne: “When they cut your throat, when a person is bleeding out, there are few chances.
“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.”
Vladislav has already undergone surgery, and doctors haven’t given up hope that he will be able to speak again.
The soldier has a 4-year-old daughter – and he is already planning on returning to the front line.
His brother told how he branded Putin’s troops “creatures”.
And he said he wanted them to go through “what I and those seven of our Cossack boys felt,” Yevhen said.
It comes as Putin continues to launch attacks on war-torn Ukraine, despite a high-stakes meeting with the US President over one week ago.
Following a historic summit, Trump engaged with European allies, including Volodymyr Zelensky, at the White House, where they celebrated noteworthy advancements in peace discussions.
The Don even made a call to Putin halfway through his talks with Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Giorgia Meloni and other world leaders.
Last weekend, US Vice President JD Vance claimed that Russia had abandoned its ambitions to control Ukraine, counting it was a key concession win.
He remains confident Trump will broker an end to the fighting.
It also came as Washington was blocking Ukraine from firing long-range missiles into Russia.
The Pentagon introduced a review mechanism in late spring that is effectively preventing Kyiv from striking targets in Russian territory, sources told the Wall Street Journal.
This has stopped Kyiv benefitting from the full firepower of US Atacms and British Storm Shadows.
President Biden gave the greenlight for Ukraine to use the Atacms back in November – and Storm Shadows were fired into Russia for the first time that same month.
Two US officials told the paper that a Ukrainian request to use Atacms had already been rejected on at least one occasion.
