Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine 'turning to cannibalism' amid low food supplies

Ukrainian cybersecurity specialists say they were obtained from the messaging app Telegram.

Intelligence sources in Ukraine say they have evidence of at least five separate instances where Russian infantrymen were reported to have eaten their comrades.

The incidents, if confirmed, appear to have been isolated and took place during deep winter when supply chains were severely disrupted, with questions also raised about the mental health of the individuals involved, The Sunday Times reports.

Russia has dismissed the allegations as fabrications, with its Embassy in London saying the claims were propaganda produced by Ukrainian military intelligence rather than verified fact.

The most detailed case involves a soldier known by the call sign Khromoy, a Russian word roughly translating to "limpy," who was reportedly caught after killing two fellow soldiers near Myrnohrad in the contested Donetsk region in November 2025.

In a Telegram conversation an unnamed officer reported the incident to a senior commander, describing how Khromoy was discovered in a basement having cut off the leg of one of his victims and appeared to be attempting to eat it.

The officer said: "In short, one ally killed two others and he tried - he cut off a leg and was already trying to eat one of them."

Analysed images shared in the conversation using specialist AI detection software, which concluded they had not been artificially generated or altered.

An independent conflict surgeon who reviewed the photographs said the injuries were inconsistent with blast or fragment wounds and appeared to have been made with a sharp knife.

After viewing the photograph of Khromoy, the commander asked whether his troops were being properly fed, to which the officer replied: "Ours will also soon start eating each other. All the guys are skinny. Everyone is on starvation rations."

Two further Telegram conversations described separate incidents.

In one, a soldier complained about sharing a dugout with a comrade he alleged had eaten a corpse, saying he was Muslim and did not want to share shelter with such a person.

In another, a unit commander ordered a subordinate to stop eating the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers, reportedly telling him he would have directed him elsewhere for food if he had simply asked.

In a further message, the chief of staff of a separate motorised rifle brigade issued an order to his troops that explicitly listed "no cannibalism" alongside prohibitions on alcohol, drugs and moving without identity documents.

Claims of cannibalism during wartime have historically been used as propaganda to dehumanise the enemy and Russia has been quick to characterise the allegations in those terms.

However, experts say the underlying picture of poor Russian logistics is credible and well documented throughout the conflict.

Bradley Martin, a former US naval captain and senior research fellow at the Rand Corporation, said reports of poor food supply to Russian infantry were consistent with broader concerns about logistics, noting troop support was "not a major priority of the Russian army”.

Russian soldiers have repeatedly complained of receiving expired rations or being abandoned without supplies for weeks at a time.

CCTV footage published in 2023 by Ukraine's security services showed Russian troops looting shops and private homes in search of food.

Military analyst Vikram Mittal said the particularly harsh winter had placed additional strain on already stretched supply chains, pointing out resupply vehicles were "particularly vulnerable" to Ukrainian drone attacks.

Ukraine has been actively targeting Russian logistics networks using kamikaze and bomber drones, including attacks on train depots and storage facilities in Crimea and Russia.

A senior Ukrainian military source said he was surprised by the allegations given that Russia was an agricultural country with food relatively accessible, though he acknowledged the extreme urban nature of much of the fighting left soldiers with few options for foraging.

The project I Want To Live, run by the Ukrainian armed forces to encourage Russian soldiers to surrender, has recorded 10,000 Russian troops handing themselves over, with the majority doing so last year.

By the end of 2025, Russia had increased its ground forces in Ukraine to around 710,000 soldiers, with Moscow reported to be aiming to recruit a further 409,000 new troops in 2026 – a scale of expansion that analysts say places enormous additional pressure on already strained supply and logistics systems.

The Russian Embassy in London said it saw "no reason to comment" on the allegations, with a spokesman describing the claims as "fabrications supplied by Ukrainian military intelligence”.

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