 The 41-year-old soldier had to be rescued after become a 'human bomb' ( Nikolay Pasenko/east2west news) 'I was against it. I did not want the doctors to suffer as the munitions could have exploded,' said Pasenko. But the medics put on body armour vests and head military surgeon Lt-Col Dmitry Kim ignored the soldier's warning that he could detonate on the operating table. 'So we'll blow up together,' replied medical corps Lt-Col Kim moments before performing the delicate surgery. The risk of an explosion was assessed as 'extremely high', but failure to operate left the father at risk of fatal bleeding. He says he was concerned for the safety of medical staff ( Zvezdanews/east2west news) "Despite this, the military doctors together with their civilian counterparts donned body armour under their medical gowns and proceeded with this utmost intricate surgery,' said a statement from the Russian defence ministry. The operation was successful and the soldier said of the medics: 'They are the real heroes.' 'We were warned there was a risk of ammunition detonation, but no one refused,' said Lt-Col Kim){kind=link}
Junior Sergeant Nikolay Pasenko survived but said he feared for medics as the as the munitions lodged inside him could have exploded during the operation to save him
Surgeons donned body armour for a highly dangerous operation to save the life of a Russian soldier who had become a ‘human bomb’.
Junior Sergeant Nikolay Pasenko, 41, had been hit by a Ukrainian attack, and unexploded ordnance from an automatic grenade launcher was embedded inside him, under his heart.
The ammunition shattered his ribs, damaged a lung and lodged near his spine, between the aorta and the inferior vena cava; the largest vein in the body.
The lethal explosive showed up on X-rays and the gunner initially balked at surgery.