National Guard soldier Vladyslav Nahornyi, who survived torture by Russian forces, disappeared from a hospital in Dnipro on Aug. 30, police spokesperson Hanna Starchevska told Hromadske on Sept. 2.

The 33-year-old soldier was captured near Pokrovsk several weeks ago after his brigade lost a position. He later described how Russian troops mutilated fellow captives before slitting his throat and throwing him into a pit with seven others, believing them all dead.

Nahornyi was the only survivor, managing to crawl for five days back to Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Admitted to a Dnipropetrovsk Oblast hospital on Aug. 17 in critical condition, he had lost large amounts of blood and suffered festering wounds. His wife reported his disappearance after he left the hospital without warning. Police have launched a search.

Nahornyi, unable to speak after surgery, documented his ordeal in a diary. He wrote that Russian soldiers gouged out eyes, cut off lips, ears, and noses, and mutilated male prisoners.

His case highlights mounting evidence of systematic war crimes against Ukrainian prisoners. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General reported in July that at least 273 Ukrainian POWs have been executed by Russia during captivity in violation of the Geneva Conventions.

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