A resident of Primorye told how he survived a bear attack in the forest

Brief retelling from RIA II

In May 2025, a resident of Primorye, Artem Kodenkov, was seriously injured by a bear in the forest near the village of Lenino, Chuguevsky district.

Artem was able to survive the fight with the bear, managing to open the predator’s jaw.

Now, a year and a half after the attack, Artyom is gradually recovering and continues to go to the taiga, but to other areas and in larger company.

VLADIVOSTOK, September 30 - RIA Novosti. A resident of Primorye, Artem Kodenkov, who was seriously injured by a bear in the forest in 2025, told RIA Novosti that he was able to survive a fight with a wild animal, managing to unclench the predator’s jaw.

The encounter with the bear took place near the village of Lenino, Chuguevsky District, in May 2025. The man went into the forest that day with a friend.

“It was in May 2025. The bear was in a den. A week before that, I looked into it - I thought it was a badger town, but it was empty. Although the den was, of course, huge... This time I didn’t immediately understand that it was a bear, I thought maybe a friend was sneezing. I walked up the slope, the bear jumped out of the den, I threw a bag at him and hid behind a tree. When I looked out, he was already standing on his hind legs on the slope above me, bent down and immediately tore off half of my cheek,” the interlocutor said.

According to him, his comrade managed to run up the slope and hide. As he later told Artem, he decided that his friend no longer had a chance to be saved. Kodenkov added that the bear also bit him in the eye area.

“As I understand it, he wanted to deprive me of my sight: the bear cannot stand human gaze. He began to break my cheekbone, I just didn’t know what to do, and I put my hands in his mouth and unclenched it. After that, he and I rolled down the cliff - it was very steep there, we flew 10-15 meters. As a result, I landed in such a way that my legs were sticking up, and my head was down. The bear tried to grab me by the stomach, I dodged in every possible way, and in the end I stuck my leg in his thigh into his mouth,” recalls Kodenkov.

After that, the bear bit him on the leg, and he no longer had the strength to run.

"I realized that I couldn’t run, my head was spinning. I just lay down with my back to him. It was more or less intact, I “gave” my back to him. He came up and pulled off my cap. I covered my face with my hands, he pulled them off and tore off the skin on my forehead. After that, the bear walked away, I lay down for a while and crawled. But I hear him running again, running around in a circle, biting my leg again. I no longer have the strength, I lay down again, covered his head with his hands, and then he left,” the interlocutor noted.

This time the wounded man waited longer and crawled down the slope towards where he had left the car. The bear was no longer nearby. Kodenkov heard voices and began to call for help.

Now, a year and a half after the attack, Artem is gradually recovering.

“I was just lucky. I already thought that there were no options other than to put my hand in his mouth, just so that he would suffocate or choke. It’s good that I managed to react and opened my mouth. I applied all the strength that I had. I thought it was unrealistic, but for some reason it turned out to be very easy - apparently, it’s true that strength appears in stressful situations,” the interlocutor says.