A surgeon in Ukraine has removed an active grenade from inside a soldier’s chest, the country’s military said.
The explosive was removed during an operation by one of the Ukraine the most experienced military surgeons after the armed forces warned that it could “explode at any moment”.
The operation was a success and the injured soldier was sent for rehabilitation and convalescence, the armed forces added.
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An x-ray image released by the Ukrainian military reportedly showed the actual grenade located in the soldier’s chest.
Surgeon Andriy Verba operated on the soldier without electrocoagulation, a technique commonly used to control bleeding during surgery.
He was pictured holding the unexploded weapon, which the armed forces described as a “VOG grenade”, after the operation.
“Not all wounds to the heart are fatal! Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar wrote on Telegram.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces did not specify when the operation took place or how the grenade entered the soldier’s body.
The Russian army uses a variety of grenades.
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As the war in Ukraine enters its eleventh month, doctors and nurses in military hospitals continue to treat wounded soldiers and civilians.
Last May, Russia was accused of targeting Ukrainian hospitals in what experts called a “campaign of terrorist attacks”.
Analysis at the time by Sky News showed that nearly four attacks a day have been perpetrated against medics and health facilities in Ukraine on average since the beginning of the war.
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Last month, a Ukrainian presidential adviser claimed that the country’s armed forces had so far lost between 10,000 and 13,000 soldiers in the war.
Mykhailo Podolyak’s remarks appeared to be the first estimate of the death toll since late August.
