Fortunately for Mr Tzapaev, his assailant was only armed with an air gun

by the surprise, the victim punched and then shot Mr Tzapaev

A serial prankster's luck has ended in a moment of poetic justice when he was punched to the ground and shot after attempting to film himself scaring a pedestrian.

Vladimir Tzapaev runs a YouTube channel which showcases videos of himself dressing up in costume and jumping out at young women walking the streets at night.

But his latest prank - all of which was caught on film - backfired spectacularly when a young man refused to be cowed and fought back.

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Vladimir Tzapaev first attempts to frighten his intended target in a dark alleyway by wandering towards him

Unfazed, the victim responds by punching Mr Tzapaev to the floor with a big right hook

Mr Tzapaev, who is well known in the area for his pranks, collapses into a heap on the ground

And when the victim removes a gun, Mr Tzapaev raises his hand in an attempt to plead for his life

Dressing up as a zombie, Tzapaev, from Nizhniy Novgorod, western Russia, positioned himself in a dark and isolated alleyway.

However, he picked the wrong victim.

Jumping out at a man walking past at about 10pm, his intended victim simply punched him to the ground with a big right hook.

Then he pulled out an air gun, and as Mr Tzapaev raised his hands to beg for his life, shot him in the leg to make sure he got the message.

The alarming incident happened in the city of Nizhniy Novgorod in the Novgorodskaya Oblast region in western Russia, where Mr Tzapaev is well known for his pranks.

But this time the prankster admitted he thought his time was up when he saw his victim pulling out a gun.

He said: 'When I saw the gun I thought this is the end. Luckily, it turned out to be a [gas powered] one.'

His leg was not seriously injured, but he has refused to alert police as he knows he brought it on himself and it will be difficult tracking down the man who shot him.

Viewers had varying opinions. YouTube user Julia Silantieva said she thought it was unacceptable to hit the prankster and then shoot him.

However Andrey Dumanyer stated that the prankster should have something better to do than scaring people on the streets.

Mr Tzapaev has refused to let the incident phase him - he claims he plans on continuing his pranks.

His YouTube channel is just one of hundreds that give viewers the opportunity to watch cruel jokes they have committed on unsuspecting members of the public.

One YouTube channel, hosted by Italian Matteo Moroni, uses terrifying clown costumes to scare members of the public.

Mr Matteo's videos show people fleeing for their lives after being scared into thinking a murdering clown is chasing them

The elaborate pranks include renting out a petrol station and using an actor to pose as a bloodied dead body.

When an unsuspecting customer arrives and notices the body an armed clown covered in fake blood appears and chases them from the store.

Another video shared on social media recently was labelled the 'most horrifying prank ever' after a man convinced his friend he had been killed by an axe murderer.

In the short clip, a man wakes up to various lights flashing in his bedroom. He then hears a terrifying scream from outside and quickly runs out of the room.

But as soon as he gets to the doorway, he finds what looks like a horror scene, with his friend Marius laying on the floor in a pool of blood.

There are lashings of red dowsed up the wall and Marius's upper body is completely covered as he lies lifeless next to an axe.

Tom, in a state of panic pleadingly bends down to embrace his friend and see if he is still alive.

But at that moment, Marius reaches up and screams, and Tom jumps back in terror.