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image source, Hannah Painter Facebook
X-rays show how close the grenade was to the Ukrainian soldier’s heart.
In what the Ukrainian government described as a “lucky scare”, a wounded soldier successfully dislodged a grenade from his chest.
The result of the delicate surgery was announced by the Deputy Defense Minister, Hannah Maliar, who posted on social networks, “Not all wounds in the heart area are fatal.”
He said the grenade was disposed of under the supervision of two bomb experts to ensure the safety of the doctors. Give guidelines to prevent it from exploding.
Maliar said the operation was carried out by Andriy Verba, 57, who is considered one of the most experienced doctors in the Ukrainian army.
image source, Hannah Painter Facebook
Surgeon Andrey Verba shows the grenades after surgery.
During surgery Electrocoagulation cannot be used, A common procedure in heart surgeries is to stop a patient from bleeding, fearing an electric shock.
The Russian-made grenade embedded in the soldier’s body was 4 centimeters in diameter and weighed 275 grams.
20 seconds
VOG grenades, developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s, can be used in a variety of grenade launchers and have a range of up to 400 meters.
They are usually grenades that explode within 20 seconds of being thrown.
image source, Hannah Painter Facebook
This type of grenade was developed in the Soviet Union about 60 years ago.
According to Ukrainian forces, they have been used since the beginning of the conflict in the east of the country in 2014.
What impressed the investigators was that the bomb remained unexploded during and after the operation until it was defused by experts.
The patient’s identity has not been released and it is only known that he was born in 1994.
“Her physical condition is stable.“, said Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
“I think this is going to be a case in the medical textbooks,” he added.
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