Surgeons ‘remove unexploded grenade lodged in Ukrainian soldier’s chest’

Ukraine’s deputy defence minister said the deviced was extracted in an operation closely monitored by sappers

Remarkable pictures show a hand grenade said to have been lodged in a Ukrainian soldier’s chest before surgeons removed it.

The unexploded device, just beneath the heart of the soldier, was taken out in the presence of two sappers to ensure the safety of the medical staff Ukraine’s deputy defence minister said. It is not clear how the grenade got there.

The operation was carried out without using electrocoagulation, a technique used in surgery to control bleeding by passing electric currents through tissue, to prevent the grenade from detonating.