The surgeon who saved British soldiers in Iraq is now helping Ukrainians attacked by Putin

An Iraqi surgeon who has helped dozens of British military amputees walk again has operated on the broken limbs of Ukrainians.

Munjed Al Muderis fled the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein in 1999 at the age of 27 after refusing orders to cut off the ears of army deserters.

The young doctor started a new life in Australia and trained as an orthopedic surgeon.

He has become a world expert in osseointegration - a pioneering technique that allows bionic limbs to be drilled into the stump left by an amputation.

Professor Al Muderis went on to perform 1,500 osseointegration operations worldwide, including in the UK, where he also passed on his skills to NHS surgeons free of charge.

And just before Christmas, the professor arrived in war-torn Ukraine hoping the technique could transform the lives of those injured by Vladimir Putin's bombs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (

Picture:

SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

But he admits what he found was far worse than he imagined, as surgeons struggled to deal with limbs that had been torn.

Professor Al Muderis revealed, “I was quite shocked by the extent of their needs. We found better medical resources in Syria.”

He and his team spent three days in the city of Lviv, arriving there on December 19 just as Putin was stepping up his offensive.

The 50-year-old had been invited by Ukraine's Ministry of Health to work in the country's largest hospital, where surgeons treat around 80 war victims each week.

The Professor and his team continued to operate even as air raid warnings urged residents to head for bomb shelters.