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Live Grenade Found Inside Body of Ukrainian Soldier Returned From Russia
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![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
A Ukrainian forensic team discovered an unexploded grenade inside the body of a fallen Ukrainian soldier during an autopsy in the western city of Chernivtsi, according to Suspilne on March 11.
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The body had been returned to Ukraine as part of a repatriation process involving the exchange of the remains of soldiers killed during the war.
According to Suspilne, Viktor Bachynskyi, head of the Chernivtsi Regional Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination, said the device was found during a routine post-mortem examination. The grenade had entered the body through the abdominal cavity, passed through internal tissues, and became lodged beneath the skin near the right thigh without detonating.
“When the expert began the autopsy of the deceased, made an incision of the cranial cavity, the chest cavity, reached the limb and began to cut it, he found an unexploded grenade under the skin,” Bachynskyi told Suspilne.
According to Bachynskyi, the incident occurred about three weeks ago. Once the explosive was discovered, staff at the morgue were evacuated and bomb disposal specialists were called to the site.
“They took it to a training ground and detonated it there, otherwise it could have exploded in the morgue,” Bachynskyi said.
Explosives have previously been discovered in the clothing of bodies returned from Russia, typically in pockets. However, Bachynskyi said this was the first documented case in which an unexploded munition was located inside the body itself.
Suspilne reported that the projectile was identified as a grenade from a handheld anti-tank grenade launcher. After the device was removed and destroyed by pyrotechnic specialists, forensic experts resumed their work to continue identifying the remains and determining the cause of death.
Earlier, an international investigation by Forbidden Stories and 13 partner media outlets reported that the body of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who died in Russian captivity, was returned to Ukraine in February 2025 missing several internal organs, including the brain and eyeballs—raising concerns among forensic experts that the removals may have been intended to conceal the cause of death.
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