Ukrainian doctors remove unexploded grenade from injured soldier’s chest

By Sebastian Shukla and Hafsa Khalil, CNN

An injured Ukrainian soldier had an unexploded grenade successfully removed from his chest earlier this week, according to the country’s military doctors.

Photos shared on the Ukrainian Military Medics Facebook page on Monday included an X-ray image of the soldier’s upper body with the grenade visible.

The surgery was fraught with danger. Doctors feared the grenade could explode at any time during the operation, and so the surgery was conducted “without electrocoagulation” — a medical treatment that controls bleeding using electricity.

According to the post, the procedure was performed “in the presence of two sappers who were ensuring the safety of medical staff.”

“The operation was carried out by one of the most experienced surgeons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine — Major General of the Medical Service Andrei Verba,” the post read.

The surgery was a success, with the serviceman sent for “further rehabilitation and recovery,” it added.

The grenade was a VOG, according to the post — a model usually fired from a grenade launcher.

The Ukrainian Military Medics did not specify when or where the surgery took place, or how the soldier was injured.

Nearly a year since Russia’s attack, hospitals in Ukraine are under immense strain.

Last month, a surgical team at a specialist trauma hospital in the city of Kramatorsk was treating around 100 patients a day under the constant threat of airborne attacks from the nearby Russian-held territory. The speed of such an attack means there is no time to shelter.

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