Two husky dogs attacked a nine-year-old boy, severely damaging his face from his eyes to his lower lip, leaving his father, taxi driver Valentin Korolev, 48, in a state of despair.
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A Russian MP has said a boy whose face was disfigured by wild dogs in a horrific attack was “brought to Moscow on the personal orders of Vladimir Putin” to save him.
The tragedy of Valentin Korolev, 9, coincides with the age of Putin's secret son Ivan, who turns 10 this month, which may explain his particular interest in the shocking incident. Two husky dogs attacked the boy, ripping his face from his eyes to his lower lip. “He has no face, he really has no face,” his father Valentin Korolev, 48, a taxi driver, said despairingly.
During the attack, Valya's frantic father, taxi driver Valentin Korolev, 48, commented: “It's terrible, very terrible. My son is now in [a hospital in] Krasnodar. He has no face, he really has no face. The dogs tore him apart from his eyes to his lower lip. Honestly, I don't know what to say.
Nine-year-old boy 'mauled' by two huskies after vicious attack while helping father
“The parts of the face that we extracted from the dogs are being sent by helicopter to Krasnovodsk. My son was going down, carrying a broom to clear the snow from the car. He didn't make it, I was waiting for him. Then the neighbors shouted: “Run here, your son was attacked by huskies and his face was torn apart.” They called an ambulance and the police.”
The dogs were destroyed and body parts including noses and cheeks were removed from their stomachs, but surgeons were unable to reattach them and criticised the time it took to restore the disfigured features. “It took too long,” Korolev said. Valya is now in hospital in Moscow after Putin ordered his emergency situations ministry to bring the boy to the capital from the Krasnodar region in southern Russia.
Kremlin MP Nina Ostanina said Putin ordered a plane to pick up the boy and take him to the Russian Children's Clinical Hospital, and his distraught parents expressed gratitude to the Kremlin leader, according to reports. Valya remains in a medically induced coma a week after the brutal attack, but faces long-term treatment to restore his face.
“When we were in the hospital, I was allowed to see him,” Mr Korolev said. “I held his hands and as soon as I started talking to him, he started moving.” The dogs had been starved for more than a week by a neighbour and attacked Valya after tunnelling out of their yard. The incident was one of the worst in a string of dog attacks in Russia in recent times.
In a separate incident, Veronika Kurilenko, also aged nine, died after being surrounded by stray dogs and torn apart in Stavropol. Doctors told Valya's father they would do “everything possible, and perhaps even impossible” to restore the boy's face. He will need artificial nose and lip implants as part of treatment that will last until he reaches adulthood.
Ostanina expressed hope: “Let’s hope that little Valya will survive and never again face cruelty from people or animals.” Putin is known to have two children with his longtime partner Alina Kabaeva, 41, an Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics who now controls a large pro-Kremlin media empire.
Ivan was born in Switzerland in March 2015 and will soon turn ten years old, while Vladimir Jr. was born in Moscow in May 2019. The children have never appeared in public.
Sourse: www.mirror.co.uk
