Doctors in Ukraine were left stunned when an unexploded grenade was found inside the body of a fallen soldier – recently returned by Russia – during an autopsy.
The unexpected incident, which occurred around three weeks ago, prompted the emergency evacuation of the morgue in the city of Chernivtsi.
Viktor Bachynsky, head of the regional forensic medical examination bureau, told Ukrainian outlet Suspilne that explosives have previously been found on fallen soldiers, usually in their uniform pockets, but this was the first time a grenade had been discovered inside a body.
The soldier’s remains, Bachynsky said, had been repatriated to Ukraine as part of an exchange with Moscow.
During the autopsy, forensic experts found the unexploded grenade under the soldier’s skin. The explosive is believed to have entered through the abdominal cavity, passed through the soldier’s body, and become lodged in the right thigh.
The morgue was evacuated, with explosives experts called to the scene to remove the device, which was later identified as a grenade from a hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher.
“It was taken to a landfill and detonated there; otherwise, it could have exploded in the morgue,” Bachynsky said.
“Because of incidents like this, we now have pyrotechnicians and the State Emergency Service conduct a screening first – only then do we step in. It’s a rigorous protocol, but in this specific case, the explosive inside the body simply hadn’t been detected beforehand.”
Ukraine received the bodies of 1,000 soldiers on Feb. 26 as part of the latest in a series of exchanges with Russia.
It remains unclear whether the soldier with the grenade under his skin was among them. Suspilne reported that the autopsy incident took place around three weeks ago.