A dramatic video has captured the moment a boater rescued a drowning bear cub by nudging the log it clung to towards shore with his boat.

The rescue occurred at the Yumaguzinskoye Reservoir in the Republic of Bashkortostan, a federal subject of Russia, on 29th April.

The footage, shared by the region's Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology, shows the man carefully steering his boat to guide the exhausted cub, which had become separated from its mother while swimming across the reservoir, back to land.

After several tense moments, the cub reaches the shore and scrambles up the bank into the forest, presumably to reunite with its mother.

The ministry said in a statement: "It’s likely the young bear might have drowned, but help came from Rustam Bulatov, a resident of the village of Kutushevo in the Meleuzovsky District.

"At the time, he happened to be crossing the reservoir in a small boat.

"Rustam approached the log the cub was clinging to and gently began pushing it towards the safety of the shore.

"The cub did not panic or resist, as if sensing it was being helped.

"Fortunately, the rescue ended successfully."

(MJ Leidig/newsX)