Russia Ukraine war, page-59917

‘One of the British prisoners of war released by Russia has described his brutal ordeal at the hands of their forces where soldiers jumped on his body and broke most of his ribs, leaving him so injured that there was blood in his urine.

After returning to the UK on Thursday following a prisoner swap, John Harding said he wished he had been killed rather than tortured by Russian-backed militants.

“If I’d known how we’d be treated before we surrendered, I would’ve stayed and set up a sniper’s nest and just tried to take a few of them out before I got killed,” he told the Sun.

Harding said the worst of his ordeal in captivity saw Russian soldiers put a bag over his head and cuff his hands behind his back. They then jumped on him, punched him and kicked him for over half an hour, breaking most of his ribs and leaving him passing blood when urinating.

“I thought, ‘I just wish they’d f------ kill me now,” Harding said. “That was the worst moment - the way they treated us was appalling."’