A Russian construction worker at a site well into the arctic circle took a shortcut through some mud and became inextricably stuck almost up to his waist. But not completely inextricably, since they had an excavator nearby.

First, he tried holding onto the huge machine’s shovel and getting pulled out… That didn’t work.

Then the operator tried digging out around him… That didn’t work.

Finally, they used the excavator exactly how it is intended to be used and he came out just fine.

(Skip to 3:15 if you just want to see the final rescue and don’t need the drama of their first failed attempts.)

Before the vodka jokes start pouring in, the original uploader (who has since set his copy of the video to private) says the man was sober… But don’t worry, there’s still fodder for some comedy here: He says the men may cross the mud pits for laughs as a sort of game of chance.

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