Ukrainian soldier tortured and "buried alive" shares miracle escape

As Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine continues, harrowing testimonies from Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) are shedding light on the unimaginable suffering many have endured – and survived – during captivity. Some are no longer able to speak, their voices stolen by brutal injuries. This story shares the voices of two survivors – both who found a miracle and made it back home.

According to investigations by the United Nations (UN), Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) was directly involved in overseeing and carrying out the torture of Ukrainian POWs at various stages of detention. In many confirmed cases, detainees were subjected to horrific abuses, especially during interrogation. Survivors were repeatedly told: “You are not even a human. You do not deserve to live.”

The UN confirmed these abuses were not isolated incidents. Ukrainian POWs were beaten, tortured, electrocuted, threatened with death, sexually assaulted, and subjected to mock executions. Victims were also often stripped, beaten with batons, attacked by dogs, forced into stress positions, or shocked with Tasers.

In one case documented by the UN, a detainee in a penal colony near Olenivka recalled how armed groups attached wires to his genitalia and nose and electrocuted him.

He said Russian forces “attached wires to my genitalia and nose and shocked me. They simply had fun and were not interested in my replies to their questions.”

Andrii

In February 2024, Andrii Ovod, a Ukrainian paratrooper, was with his unit repelling Russian assaults in Donetsk when he was severely injured by a grenade.

Dragged out by Russian forces, blindfolded and bound, Andrii was loaded onto a stretcher and taken behind enemy lines. His welcome was three blows to the head with a five-liter plastic bottle filled with water, knocking him unconscious.

“I already knew…they were going to break me. Hard,” he told United24, explaining that he was subjected to hours of torture, including electric shocks applied directly to his open wounds.

Still blindfolded, he was placed on an operating table for surgery.

After two days in intensive care, the prisoner lifted his head to check his injuries and saw that the words “Glory to Russia” had been burned into his stomach by a surgeon who used a medical cauterizing tool to mutilate him.

On May 22, 2025 – after surviving 14 months of brutal captivity – Andrii was finally freed in a prisoner exchange.

Throughout his ordeal, one thought kept him alive: his daughter.

“When I saw my daughter again, she didn’t recognize me at first. But I knew her right away. I kept my word. I came back.”

Vladyslav

Speaking through loved ones after he lost ability to speak since throat was cut by Russian troops, 33-year-old National Guard serviceman Vladyslav shared the heartbreaking story of his escape.

The soldier, currently recovering in hospital, was one of eight from his brigade who were captured and tortured during the summer 2025.

In an interview with Suspilne media, Vladyslav’s brother Yevhen and wife Victoria read from the note pad that he scratched his words, from the intensive care unit at the hospital.

“What he said was the first guys who were captured – they were from intelligence – had their eyes gouged out, their lips cut off, their male organs cut off, their ears, their noses,” Yevhen said.

Vladyslav told the outlet that following the mutilation, he was the last from his troop to be tossed into a pit and left to die by Russian forces, who believed their victims had all died.

But Vladyslav lay waiting until the Russians were gone.

“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. There was a broken bottle there, and his hands were tied, so he was able to cut the rope with that bottle,” says Victoria.

Crawled for days

Then, he tied a cloth around his bleeding throat and began crawling, dragging himself for nearly five days through dangerous terrain until he reached Ukrainian forces.

On August 17, he was taken a medical facility in “extremely serious condition,” says Serhiy, the general director of the hospital treating Vladyslav.

“Vladyslav had lost a lot of blood, his wounds began to rot…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,” Serhiy told Suspilne.

Serhiy confirmed that surgeons have already performed an initial operation to restore his ability to speak and breathe on his own: “In the 11 years of war, we have not treated a case like this before,” he told reporters.

Vladyslav remains under close medical supervision and is communicating through writing. His family says his determination to recover is fueled by the thought of reuniting with his 4-year-old daughter – and, remarkably, his desire to return to the front lines once he regains his health.

For many, the war didn’t end when they were captured – it just entered another circle of hell. And now, with courage that defies comprehension, they’re coming back from it.

If you or someone you know is affected by the contents of this article, support is available through trauma recovery centers and humanitarian organizations operating in Ukraine and abroad.