Ukrainian soldier says he crawled for 3 days to escape after he was stranded behind enemy lines

• A Ukrainian soldier described a daring and desperate effort to get back from behind enemy lines.
• The soldier told Pravda he crawled for three days, while trying to hide from drones and snipers.

A Ukrainian soldier said he had to crawl for three days to get back from behind enemy lines, all the while trying to avoid being seen and killed by Russian soldiers.

The soldier, identified by his alias "Khokhol," is part of Ukraine's special Artan Special Forces Unit. He spoke to Ukrainian outlet Pravda about how he ended up in a Russia-held forest last month, and how he managed to escape.

Khokhol said he and his comrades took a wrong turn while moving Russian prisoners captured after storming positions near the eastern city of Kupiansk.

They came to a Russian position where men approached them and asked for a password. Khokhol first thought the men were Ukrainian, but then realized they were Russian.

They opened fire on the three men but others joined what quickly became a firefight.

Khokhol said he was knocked unconscious by an explosion and was left there.

"Now I realise that the reason no one went near me was because I was in a minefield," he told Pravda.

He woke up the next morning to find Russians dropping bombs and grenades to try to find him in the grass, he said. "I realised I had three options. Surrender, stay put, or get out of there."

He started to walk, trying to avoid drones, mines, and tripwires, and when he got into more open space he started to crawl.

"I crawled for three days and two nights," he said.

Khokhol told Pravda he crawled over two miles and was almost hit by a sniper.

"I had to keep as close to the ground as possible and do everything very slowly and inconspicuously," he said.

"You crawl, say, 10 meters, then you rest, recover your breathing and restore your body temperature. When you get chilly, that's your signal to go on crawling," he added.

All he had with him was two magazines, a tourniquet, a knife, a religious icon, and "one bullet for myself, just in case," he said. There was no water or food.

Khokhol told the outlet that he snuck past Russian positions, so close that he could hear the soldiers speaking. He said he also hallucinated, imagining he was talking to his wife.

He kept himself motivated by thinking about his children, and also another Ukrainian soldier, Conan, who said he swam for 14 hours to stay alive after falling overboard in a Black Sea operation.

Eventually, Khokhol found other Ukrainian soldiers and was taken to a command post with a doctor. The doctor told him "You had 12-14 hours to live," he said.

He had surgery on a perforated eardrum and there were bits of shrapnel in his body, he said.

Khokhol's wife had already spoken to his comrades and thought he was dead. After his escape, he said he called her and said "I'm sorry it took me so long to crawl to you."