Husband drowns in front his wife after asking her to film him jumping into an ice pool in Ukraine
A husband drowned in front of his wife after plunging into an ice pool on a frozen river in the Ukraine.
The 38-year-old man, named Alexander, asked his wife to film him as he jumped into the freezing Chortomlyk River on February 5.
However rescuers were soon called to the scene after he failed to return to the surface of the ice pool and was carried away by the fast-flowing current under the frozen river.
Following a frantic search by emergency teams in the Dnipropetrovsk region, who dived into the river to find Alexander, his body was located at a depth of 13ft the next day.
The tragic incident comes just weeks after a Russian lawyer was swept to her death in front of her husband and two children after she jumped through an ice hole in a frozen river to mark Orthodox Epiphany in a village south of St Petersburg.
The 38-year-old man, named Alexander, asked his wife to film him as he plunged into the frozen Chortomlyk River on February 5
Distressing footage showed the man's friend cut a hold in the thick ice with a chain saw
In the latest incident, distressing footage shows a friend of the victim cutting a hole in the thick ice with a chain saw near the village of Kapulivka.
The man - named Alexander - then uses a long-handled axe to clear away the ice.
The couple are heard speaking before the tragedy.
She says: 'Aren't you scared, Sanya (Alexander)?'
'I am not,' he replies.
She then asks: 'Aren't you cold?
He replies: 'No.'
His wife the asks: 'Aren't your feet cold?'
'No,' he responds.
With the temperature outside hitting -5C, his wife says: 'Oh my God, I can't stand it, it's so cold.'
The 38-year-old then takes off his shirt, flexes his muscles, and makes the sign of a cross with his hands.
The wife is heard saying to her husband as he prepares to jump: '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.'
The 38-year-old used a long-handled axe to clear away the ice before jumping into the icy water
The man makes the sign of a cross with his hands before jumping into the cold water
When Alexander failed to return to the surface, rescuers were soon called to the scene
Rescuers are seen retrieving the body of Alexander after he drowned in the frozen river
Emergency teams (pictured carrying the 38-year-old's body) in the Dnipropetrovsk region dived into the river to try and find Alexander
As she films, the man sinks and vanishes in the murky waters of the river.
In terror, she exclaims: 'Oh dear, where is he? Where is he? Oh God! Where is he?'
Then she asks for help from bystanders, saying: 'Oh dear god, I don't know what to do. Shall I call the rescuers?'
A voice says: 'Yes!'
The man's friend tries to cut another hole in the ice.
But it is too late to save him, and he drowned, trapped under the ice, according to reports.
Rescuers in the Dnipropetrovsk region dived into the river but failed to find him alive.
The next day, on February 6, they located his body at a depth of 13ft, some 70ft from the shore.
'The body of the deceased man, born in 1983, was taken to the shore and handed over to a police officer,' said a rescuer.
The case is similar to Russian lawyer Anna Uskova, 40, who was being filmed last month 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.
Her businessman husband Yury, 50, jumped into the hole but failed to find her.
Local experts in Leningrad region criticised the use of unapproved ice holes without rescuers on standby.
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