Boyfriend nails his girlfriend to a wooden plank in 'crucifixion' before setting her on fire leaving her with horrific injuries 'for ending their relationship'

A girlfriend has been left with horrific injuries after being nailed by her feet and hands to a wooden plank in a horror 'crucifixion' by her boyfriend before he torched her. 

Russian Oksana Kuzmenko, 40, told a court how her lover had staged the crucifixion before dousing her body with petrol and setting her alight after she ended their relationship.

The recruitment manager suffered life-altering wounds after she 'lit up like a candle', with her appearance left completely changed following the brutal torture at the hands of her boyfriend. 

Oleg Shchegolikhin, 33, a welder, was thrown behind bars for 12 years in a strict regime penal colony by a Russian court for attempted murder with 'extreme cruelty' — but has volunteered to fight for Vladimir Putin in his war against Ukraine, and so is unlikely to spend much time in jail.

The victim bravely gave evidence against cruel Shchegolikhin in court over how he threatened to kill her in the car repair workshop where he worked in Yekaterinburg, eastern Russia.

Oksana Kuzmenko, 40, was left seriously injured after her boyfriend 'crucified' her, doused her in petrol and set her on fire in October last year

Following the attack she was diagnosed with severe burns to the upper limbs, upper respiratory tract, neck, face, and buttocks

Oleg Shchegolikhin, 33, was thrown behind bars for 12 years following the brutal torture he inflicted upon his girlfriend

Recalling the chilling ordeal that took place in October, Kuzmenko said: 'He took off my boots, he took my left leg and hammered a nail into it.

'And in my right leg he took something like a corkscrew and twisted this sharp object into my right leg,' she continued.

While Shchegolikhin carried out his vile 'crucifixion', he had been making threats to kill his girlfriend as she lay helplessly nailed to a wooden plank.

'He took out a cigarette and a lighter, and poured petrol so I lit up like a candle,' she recounted.

The welder watched his girlfriend burn alive while smoking his cigarette, before taking a fire extinguisher and putting out the flames.

But it was too late and the severe damage had been done.

After Kuzmenko had been relieved of the flames, Shchegolikhin peeled off the burnt skin from his girlfriend's right hand, leaving her with scars she will live with for the rest of her life.

He then ordered her to drive him to the city of Asbest, but she feared he would kill her and hide her body in a forest while on the journey.

Brave and injured Kuzmenko then decided to deliberately crash the car into another vehicle - a move which likely saved her life as Shchegolikhin left her and fled the scene as police arrived. 

Addressing a court, Kuzmenko recounted the horrific attack which saw her right leg injured with a corkscrew

Pictured: Kuzmenko before she was violently attacked by her boyfriend last year

Torturer Shchegolikhin expects to evade the strict regime penal colony to which he was sentenced by volunteering to fight for Russia against Ukraine

Following the attack, Shchegolikhin ordered his girlfriend to drive him to Asbest before he was captured by police

Shchegolikhin's lawyer Olga Polishchuk confirmed they would appeal the verdict and that he is going to fight the war in Ukraine

Shchegolikhin (left) had launched his brutal attack on Kuzmenko after she ended their relationship. Shchegolikhin had hidden his past as a convict with previous sentences for hijacking, theft, battery, and drunk driving, Kuzmenko told the court

Kuzmenko explained to officers the hideous ordeal she had suffered, which she told the court was followed by an hour long beating from her boyfriend. 

Cops discovered the woman in a 'terrible condition,' the court heard, and she was later diagnosed with severe burns to the upper limbs, upper respiratory tract, neck, face, and buttocks.

She had deep wounds in her limbs from the nail and 'corkscrew' and was in a 'grave' condition in hospital. 

Shchegolikhin had hidden his past as a convict with previous sentences for hijacking, theft, battery, and drunk driving, Kuzmenko told the court.

His lawyer Olga Polishchuk claimed after the trial that he would appeal as he 'never intended to kill her' when he nailed her to a plank and set her ablaze.

She said: 'Under interrogation and in court he always said: 'I loved her'.'

Shchegolikhin is set appeal the conviction for attempted murder but meanwhile has applied for a scheme that enabled him to receive a pardon from Putin after serving six months in his war.

'He is going to the war,' she said.

'He wrote a statement to the Russian Army back in October.  

'Taking part in the war, he would be able to make amends to her,' she added.