Soldier was ‘skinned alive’ by mother bear defending her cubs

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A soldier was killed after being ‘skinned alive’ by a furious bear protecting her cubs on a remote Pacific Ocean island.

Alexey Ivanovsky, 36, died nine days later in hospital after he had the skin on his scalp, back and buttocks ripped away.

His ear was torn off and he needed his leg amputated.

The savage attack happened on the remote Kuril islands, a tiny group of 56 volcanic islands between Japan and Russia under Russian jurisdiction.

Ivanovsky was reportedly cornered by a group of brown bears including cubs in a pincer movement.

It is reported an adult female attacked him and tried to drag him away as she protected her two cubs.

Onlookers threw stones at the bear and one man named Alexander, 37, was also wounded.

‘People threw everything to hand at (the bear),’ said one witness.

‘It dragged Alexey, but our acquaintances, they chased it away only by driving at it [in a car] and dazzling with headlights.’

Ivanovsky was clinically dead immediately after the attack but later resuscitated.

He was flown 250 miles to regional capital Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk but died nine days later from a heart attack.

Locals had donated blood and held prayer vigils for him.

A video shows torn clothes and the man’s boots after the attack – and also the crabs he had collected on the Pacific beach.

Additional reporting by Will Stewart