Russian tourist, 23, is mauled to death and eaten by a shark in Egypt

A Russian man was heard screaming ‘papa’ as he was mauled to death by a shark today in the Egyptian resort of Hurghada.

Tourists watched in horror from the shore as the beast wounded the man before dragging him under the water. His distraught girlfriend managed to escape.

The tourist – believed to be 23 – was on a long stay in Egypt, possibly avoiding conscription to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

He was named in Russia by Baza news outlet as Vladimir Popov, and had moved to the resort with his father several months ago.

His father watched the fatal attack in horror, which was also filmed from the shore. 

A Russian man was heard screaming ‘papa’ as he was mauled to death by a shark today in Egyptian resort Hurghada. Pictured: A still grab from a graphic video showing the attack. The shark’s fin can be seen just feet away from the man as he attempts to swim away from the beast

The video shows that the man desperately shouted ‘Papa, Papa’ as the predator hunted him in the water, circling him before launching the attack.

The man can be seen desperately trying to swim towards the shore, but appears to be attacked by the shark while still in deeper waters.

His body is seen spinning in the water, and his legs raise above the surface – as horrified onlookers scream and shout for the man to swim.

‘Swim away, swim away! Quick! A shark!’ people can be heard shouting. 

The splashing in the water stops, and the man’s head returns to the surface. He appears in the video to be moving around in the water again, but only slowly.

He can be heard screaming ‘Papa’, pleading for help, as some of the water turns red.

As he does so, the shark’s body is seen clearly at the surface this time. The long black shape circles around the man, and its fin and tail are seen near the surface. 

The woman filming the horrific attack can he heard repeating ‘oh my god’ as it unfolds. As she does so, the shark turns around for another attack and swims at the man again, clamping its jaws around him, pulling him under the water.

The man’s head appears above the water one last time, and the shark’s body is seen writhing in the ocean as it appears to eat the man’s body and drag it further down.

One witness said: ‘The shark’s eating his remains now. There she is, eating his remains.’ Another said: ‘Right in front of my eyes, the shark ate the guy, the girl managed to escape. He took the blow from the shark. 

‘It’s a terrible thing, the remains of this man are lying there.’

The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of a citizen from a shark attack.

An unnamed Russian woman tourist said: ‘The rescuers reacted very quickly. I immediately felt that it was a shark.

‘I immediately jumped up and started shouting: ‘Sharks! Save yourself!’.’

A witness said: ‘It was about seven meters from the shore.’

Another onlooker said: ‘The girl was saved, she screamed very much on the beach. 

‘She was so shocked, screaming. I don’t know where they took her.’

The incident was reported to be on Dream Beach in Hurghada.

Russian tourists were told to be vigilant in the popular resort and follow the instructions and prohibitions of hotel staff.

The Russian man is not the first to have been killed by a shark at the resort.

In July last year, 68-year-old Austrian Elisabeth Sauer was attacked in front of horrified onlookers – 15 minutes after English speaking guests warned Egyptian lifeguards about sharks. Their warnings had been laughed off.

A second woman – identified only as a Romanian national in her 40s – is thought to have been killed in a similar attack just 650ft away from where Sauer died, with her badly disfigured remains found on a nearby reef the same day.

The tourist – believed to be 23 – was on a long stay in Egypt, possibly avoiding conscription to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. He was named in Russia by Baza news outlet as Vladimir Popov (pictured), and had moved to the resort with his father several months ago

Ms Sauer lost an arm and a leg in an attack that was caught on film, as onlookers tried to distract the shark and get her to safety.

She reached the shore with the help of a flipper, but died a short time later.

Reports at the time – from news agency AFP and Austrian news outlets – pointed to the attack being committed by a Mako shark, while local Egyptian newspapers named the animal as an Oceanic whitetip shark. 

It was not immediately clear what species of shark carried out Thursday’s attack.