A surgeon in Ukraine has removed a live grenade from inside a soldier’s chest, the country’s military has said.

The explosive was removed during an operation by one of Ukraine’s most experienced military surgeons after the armed forces warned it could “detonate at any time”.

The operation was successful and the injured soldier was sent to rehabilitation and recovery, the armed forces added.

‘The whole ground is covered in corpses’ – Ukraine war live updates

An X-ray image released by Ukraine’s military was said to show the live grenade located in the soldier’s chest.

Surgeon Andriy Verba operated on the soldier without electrocoagulation, a common technique used to control bleeding during surgery.

He was pictured holding the undetonated weapon, which the armed forces described as a “VOG grenade”, after the surgery was performed.

Two missing Britons volunteering in Donetsk region in Ukraine are named

What is the British Challenger 2 battle tank and what armoured vehicles are NATO countries already sending to Ukraine?

UK considering supplying Ukraine with Challenger 2 tanks to fight Russian forces

“Not every injury to the heart is fatal!”, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar wrote on Telegram.

The Ukrainian armed forces did not specify when the surgery took place or how the grenade entered the soldier’s body.

The Russian military uses a variety of grenades.

Read more:
Inside a war-torn city hospital in Ukraine
Kyiv denies claims that ‘massive missile strike’ killed 600 Ukrainian troops

With the war in Ukraine now in its 11th month, doctors and nurses in military hospitals are continuing to tend to injured soldiers and civilians.

Last May, Russia was accused of targeting Ukrainian hospitals, in what experts called a “terror bombing campaign”.

Analysis at the time by Sky News showed that almost four attacks a day were carried out against medics and healthcare facilities in Ukraine on average since the war began.

Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts

Last month, a Ukrainian presidential adviser claimed that the country’s armed forces had lost between 10,000 and 13,000 soldiers in the war so far.

Mykhailo Podolyak’s remarks appeared to be the first estimate of the death toll since late August.

Related posts:

Kim Jong Un says North Korea is facing its ‘worst-ever situation’ Ireland getting back to normal as restrictions on gatherings, shopping and travel ease UK firefighters help ‘exhausted’ Greece colleagues battle wildfires Nine dead and dozens injured as train derails in India, officials say North Korea files third set of missiles in retaliation to US sanctions Jerusalem braced for further violence as flashpoints threaten unrest ‘Gas might be expensive, but freedom is priceless’: Estonian PM urges West to hold firm over Ukraine Man tests positive for monkeypox, COVID and HIV after holiday to Spain Indonesian football fans’ passion can have devastating results, says ex-national team manager ‘We need change’, ‘we have a chance’, ‘we just have to wait’: How Lula supporters are reacting to Brazil’s election results Iran’s supreme leader says Mahsa Amini’s death ‘deeply broke my heart’ Ukraine makes gains in Kherson days after Russia announced annexation