A Ukrainian soldier underwent surgery to get a live grenade removed from his body. The operation was performed by an experienced surgeon who risked his own life as the grenade could have exploded at any moment. The grenade got lodged in the torso of the soldier when he was engaged in a fierce military battle in Bakhmut, Ukraine, according to New York Post. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in a Facebook post, wrote that military doctors operated upon the soldier to remove “an unexploded VOG” from inside his body. Major General Andriy Verba, one of the most experienced surgeons of the Armed Forces, performed the surgery without using electrocoagulation as the grenade could have detonated “at any moment”.

The surgeon was accompanied by two soldiers who ensured the safety of the medical staff during the surgery. The operation was successful, and the soldier was later sent for rehabilitation and recovery, the post read.

In an X-ray image of the soldier shared in the Facebook post, the grenade could be seen lodged in his chest. Another image showed a doctor holding the live grenade in his hands after the successful surgery.

The Ukrainian armed forces did not disclose how the soldier suffered the injury and when the grenade was removed. According to New York Post, the explosive was fired from a grenade launcher attached to an assault rifle.

The Russian invasion of has now entered its 11th month. With no end in sight to the conflict, the fighting has continued claiming numerous lives on both sides. Ukraine claimed it bombed barracks in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region in a New Year’s Eve strike, killing at least 89 soldiers. Later, the Russian Defence Ministry said that it carried out a retaliatory strike in the city of Kramatorsk and killed more than 600 Ukrainian soldiers.

Russia recently named a new commander for its military operation in Ukraine. Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov was appointed the new overall commander of the operation by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday, January 11.

He has succeeded General Sergei Surovikin, who took charge in October last year and oversaw attacks on vital infrastructure in Ukraine, reported Reuters.