New Zealand volunteer frees Ukrainian friend who was presumed to be dead but was in fact captured by Russians two month ago.

Kane Te Tai, code name "Turtle", a former New Zealand Defence Force soldier who now fights for Ukraine, posted this video on his Instagram.

He explained:
"This is the surprise conclusion to my last few posts. Unexpected to say the least. We hit a Russian position a few days ago and after a quick battle and breach we started clearing the bunker and basement. "Ya Ukrayinets!" (I'm Ukrainian) a voice said from the stairwell, I stopped the lads from tossing a grenade in and pushed some Ukrainian's forward to interact with the voice. Skeptical, we felt a trap brewing, we pushed forward and I started to go through the search process. I got on him and searched his body and tossed him to his front. Then his eyes met mine "New Zealand! New Zealand!" I looked down. I recognised him, it was my friend who I thought was killed by the Russians when they invaded his house. Heavily starved for two months and forced to drink anti freeze for entertainment, he barely looked like the man I knew a couple of months ago. But it was the best thing to happen to me in this God foresaken war. To be able to save your friends is something that almost never happens but I'm thankful and feel blessed that it was us that could pull him from that Hell hole."

According to another source, after the building was secured, the Ukrainian man was brought to a hospital where he's currently in stable condition and needs to be treated because of the malnourishment and torture he suffered by the Russians.

The two had become friends in 2022 over the Ukrainian man's love for The Lord of the Rings movies and his desire to visit New Zealand when the war is over. The Ukrainian man had lived in Montenegro, but came back to Ukraine and joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine when Russia invaded Ukraine. He was presumed to have been killed by the Russians, together with other members of his unit, when his position was overrun during a Russian attack, but it turned out he had been captured (and was now freed) instead.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CpqPrh6o5Hc/