A RUSSIAN bodybuilder dubbed ‘Popeye’ has undergone life-saving surgery to remove rotting flesh from his arms after he injected them with oil.

Kirill Tereshin, 24, faced his second round of surgery to clear his clogged-up triceps, removing the dead muscle and draining his arms of excess fluid caused by the substance.

Doctors warned Tereshin he risked losing the use of his arms after he injected himself with Synthol oil to create cartoonish, bulging muscles, and shared the footage with his 350,000 Instagram followers.

The former soldier admitted his health woes were “due to my own stupidity” after he started bulking up his arms at age 20.

Tereshin, from the city of Pyatigorsk in the Russian region of Stavropol Krai, had the corrective surgery delayed by nearly a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I’m only 24, and my immune system is so far coping with this inflammation, but I really do not know what will happen next,” he said.

“That is why I started the surgeries to get rid of this nightmare.”

Tubes drained a build-up of fluid from Tereshin’s arms after doctors removed masses of dead muscle that has been poisoned by his bootleg bulking method.

He will face further operations to extract the substance and the dead muscle that formed during his quest to achieve beach-ball-like biceps.

He said he was “very lucky” that there were doctors willing to treat him, after surgeon Dmitry Melnikov told Tereshin he could die if his arms were not operated on.

The hardest surgery will be on my biceps… the nerve responsible for the arms’ sensitivity is inside.

God forbid if something happens to this nerve and I cannot move my arm.

I really worry about this. I am very afraid. I should have thought about this earlier, I know. I blame myself, I know I’m guilty.”

Melnikov, from Sechenov Moscow State Medical University, said, “Kirill injected about three litres into each arm. It saturated the muscle tissues, blocked blood flow.

“”All that has to be removed, but we need to keep the vein, nerves and other functions of the limb.”

The former soldier gained his nickname, Popeye, after he went down a dangerous DIY route to bulk-up his triceps and biceps.

Synthol injections expand muscle tissue and are popular amongst bodybuilders due to its almost immediate results.

As well as the dangers involved with injecting, the substance can cause irreversible muscle damage and potentially life-threatening complications.

Despite the clear risks, the substance is widely available online and relatively easy to purchase.

Synthol takes hold of muscle tissue and hardens them – leaving muscles larger, but damaged and weaker.

Tereshin previously omitted he had began trying the oil after he was called up for military service. “In the army, I was worried that I would have a hard time and lose weight so I decided to try Synthol oil,” he said.

“In the beginning, I wanted to inject synthol oil into other parts of my body, but then the problems started and I stopped using it.”

The synthol injections reportedly caused tissue fibrosis followed by necrosis, seriously affecting his health, and doctors told him he was at risk of amputation.

He previously underwent surgery in November 2019 to remove his ludicrous implants, which “did 25 per cent of the repairs” after he injected his arms with petroleum jelly.

Fortunately for the young Russian, he was able to have much of his rotting muscle and tissue removed in a series of ongoing ops.

“Guys, this is what my arm looks like. Two cuts, one scar has healed, this one has remained. I’m undergoing treatment, everything will be fine soon,” he said optimistically after his surgery.

He was persuaded to undergo urgent treatment by Alana Mamaeva, 32, a leading campaigner for victims of botched plastic surgery.

After his first round of surgery in 2019, Popeye explained he was already feeling much better after initially using the use of his arms.

The 24-year-old now hopes his latest treatment will halt any further health issues before he is back on the surgeons table later this year.