Moment Ukrainian man asks wife to film him jumping into frozen river

27 January 2024 , 10:00

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Moment Ukrainian man asks wife to film him jumping into frozen river

A man who jumped into a frozen river on a winter's day out died in front of his heartbroken wife - as he didn't consider the impact of a rapid water current beneath the ice.

The 38-year-old man - known only as Alexander - asked his wife to film him as he jumped into the frozen Chortomlyk River in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region on February 5, 2022. But the fun stunt took a turn for the worst for the man, who is believed to have drowned under the ice moment after diving in - and never resurfaced.

In distressing video of the accident, Alexander can be heard talking to his wife before his plunge, which took place in Arctic temperatures of -5C. In the footage, his wife can be heard asking: "Aren't you scared Alexander?", to which he confidently responded that he wasn't. Alexander then takes off his shirt, flexes his muscles, and makes the sign of a cross with his hands.

The daredevil is then asked: “Aren’t you cold?, to which he replied: “No.” His wife then asks: “Aren’t your feet cold?” to which he insists: “No.” Alexander's wife is then heard saying “Oh my God, I can’t stand it, it’s so cold…It's cold, Oh God, I hope you won't get sick.” Then as he plunges in feet first, she says: “Oh God, so worrying…” followed by: “Mama…” As she films, the man sinks and vanishes into the murky waters of the river, before she exclaims in terror: “Oh dear, where is he? Where is he? Oh God! Where is he?”

Alexander takes off his shirt, flexes his muscles, and makes the sign of a cross with his hands before diving into the freezing water (Ukraina v shoke/east2west news)

Alexander drowned after getting trapped under the ice, according to local news reports (Ukraina v shoke/east2west news)

Then she asks for help from bystanders, saying: “Oh dear God, I don't know what to do. Shall I call the rescuers?" His friend is then seen trying to cut another hole in the ice with a chainsaw, but at this point it is too late to save him. Alexander drowned after getting trapped under the ice, according to local news reports.

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Rescuers dived into the river but failed to find him alive. His body was found the next day at a depth of 13ft, some 70ft from the shore. A rescuer said of the tragedy: "The body of the deceased man, born in 1983, was taken to the shore and handed over to a police officer."

The case is similar to Russian lawyer Anna Uskova, 40, who was being filmed in 2022 as she marked Orthodox Epiphany by plunging into an ice hole in a fast-flowing river. She too immediately vanished - in front her distressed children, a girl, 14, and boy, ten, who were heard screaming.

Joseph Gamp