Russian surgeons in bulletproof vests removed an unexploded grenade from the body of a wounded soldier in the Ukrainian war after a shell fired from an automatic weapon crushed his ribs and punctured a lung, Tvzvezda.ru and The Sun reported.

The grenade was lodged near the spine, just below the heart.

“I didn’t understand what happened. It was a hit to the edge of the armor, that’s all. I didn’t pass out – I just kept moving. Then my colleagues bandaged me,” said Mykola Pasenko.

The grenade was seen on an X-ray, and the young man initially refused the operation.

“I was against it. I didn’t want the doctors to get hurt because the ammunition could explode,” said Pasenko.

But the doctors put on body armor and began to operate, despite warnings that they could be blown up during the operation.

The operation was successful, and later the soldier woke up to thank the “hero” surgeons.

“We were warned that there was a risk of ammunition detonation, but no one refused,” said Lieutenant Colonel Dmytro Kim.