Starving Russian soldiers have allegedy been driven to eat each other (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Vladimir Putin’s desperate frontline soldiers have allegedly turned to “cannibalism” as hunger and brutal conditions rage on. Disturbing claims from Ukrainian military intelligence suggest crumbling supply lines have left Russian troops fighting for survival by eating each other.
The deeply unsettling allegations are said to be supported by a collection of intercepted audio files and photographs obtained from the messaging app Telegram by Ukrainian cyber specialists. Intelligence officials in Kyiv claim they have recorded at least five distinct cases of cannibalism amongst the Russian ranks.
While these incidents appear to be isolated, probably triggered by acute mental collapse and meagre rations during the harsh winter, the accounts are deeply disturbing.
The most explicit report concerns a soldier known as “Khromoy” (Russian for “Limpy”). He was reportedly discovered in a basement near Myrnohrad in the Donetsk region after killing two of his fellow soldiers.
In a leaked Telegram exchange, a horrified officer reported the scene to a superior, saying: “In short, one ally killed two others and he tried – he cut off a leg and was already trying to eat one of them.”
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When the commander questioned if the troops were being fed, the officer gave a bleak warning: “Ours will also soon start eating each other. All the guys are skinny. Everyone is on starvation rations.” While Russia has condemned the reports as “propaganda” and “fabrications,” independent experts suggest the evidence is far more difficult to dismiss.
Specialist AI detection software analysed images from the scene and concluded they had not been doctored.
Furthermore, a conflict surgeon who examined the photographs noted that the wounds on the bodies were consistent with “sharp knife” marks rather than battlefield shrapnel or explosions.
Other intercepted communications paint a deeply troubling picture of a military in complete moral collapse, including a Muslim soldier complaining about being forced to share a dugout with a man he claimed had consumed a corpse.
A commander was also heard instructing a subordinate to cease eating the bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers, telling him he should have simply “asked for food.”
Meanwhile, a Chief of Staff for a motorised rifle brigade was allegedly compelled to issue a formal order explicitly prohibiting cannibalism alongside drugs and alcohol.
TOPSHOT – Two Russian soldiers patrol in the Mariupol drama theatre, bombed last March 16, in Mariupol on April 12, 2022, as Russian troops intensify a campaign to take the strategic port city, part of an anticipated massive onslaught across eastern Ukraine, while Russia’s President makes a defiant case for the war on Russia’s neighbour. – *EDITOR’S NOTE: This picture was taken during a trip organized by the Russian military.* (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP) (Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images)TOPSHOT-UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The Kremlin’s Embassy in London has declined to comment further, dismissing the allegations as fantasies. However, Western analysts maintain that the root cause — a catastrophic failure of Russian logistics — is very much a reality.
Bradley Martin, a former US naval captain and researcher at the Rand Corporation, noted that looking after troops is simply “not a major priority” for the Kremlin.
Russian soldiers have repeatedly filmed themselves complaining about being abandoned in the field with out-of-date rations or no food whatsoever. Military analyst Vikram Mittal added that the “particularly harsh winter” combined with Ukraine’s relentless drone strikes targeting resupply vehicles have left numerous units completely isolated.
