A pro-Russian fighter was filming himself testing the strength of a bulletproof vest in Ukraine when he deliberately shot himself in the stomach sustaining critical injuries in the process. While many social media reports asserted that the man died after the incident, these claims are yet to be confirmed.

The reported incident occurred in the troubled region of Donbass — the unofficial name for the Donetsk and Luhansk coal mining regions in eastern Ukraine, Daily Mail reported.

The young man, called "Domovoi" (house-elf) by the Ukranian media, can be seen in the video loading a Stechkin automatic pistol while wearing a dark bulletproof vest.

The cameraman can be heard claiming that Domovoi is wearing sixth-grade armor, which is allegedly the same as those worn by Russian Special Forces.

Right after, the man says, "That's it, f*** Donbass!" and proceeds to shoot himself in the stomach. 

As the shot rings out, the man falls to his knees, evidently in extreme pain, and throws the firearm aside to hold his stomach with his left hand.

Not grasping the gravity of the situation, the cameraman lets out a short laugh and says to the camera: "Looks like he's wounded... Looks like he's going to die now. I have to stop filming now, sorry."

That said, local social media reports claimed that the young individual later died as a result of the shot in the stomach. However, as previously mentioned, this is yet to be verified.

One source reportedly claimed that the bullet hit Domovoi in an unprotected part of the vest, straight into his abdomen, instead of the armored plates.

Mikhail Bratskov, a military expert, explained what might have happened. "The shot was fired at close range. Even if the vest was not penetrated by the bullet, the kinetic energy of the bullet could easily tear the tester's internal organs," he said.

Also, further unconfirmed reports state that the tester was, in fact, a member of a Russian-backed militia occupying the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine after the Russian military intervention in 2014, Mirror reports.