In the ranks of the Kremlin army, cases of soldiers eating human flesh have been documented. Why these aren’t coincidences.
April 30, 2026, 04:29April 30, 2026, 04:29
Ivan Ruslyannikov / ch media
The report reveals something shocking: last winter, several cases of cannibalism were recorded in the Russian army. The British newspaper “The Sunday Times” reported this, citing documents it received from sources in Ukrainian military intelligence.
Russian soldiers during an exercise in occupied eastern Ukraine: cannibalism is said to have occurred within the troops.Image: www.imago-images.de
The incident became known through a conversation between Lieutenant Vladislav Rasikov, deputy commander of a Russian elite brigade, and a previously unspecified officer.
According to a source in Ukrainian military intelligence, there is evidence of at least five cases in which, according to their comrades and superiors, Russian infantrymen ate their own fellow soldiers.
In a conversation on April 3, 2025, a soldier with the nickname Most from the 54th Motorized Rifle Regiment complained to his officer about a comrade: “He ate a corpse, human flesh. I am Muslim. I don’t want someone like him coming into my shelter,” says the soldier. In another conversation on October 8, 2025, the commander of the 1437th Motorized Rifle Regiment reproaches one of his subordinates: “Why are you eating Ukrainian? Stop eating people.”
The Sunday Times describes these cases of cannibalism as isolated and small-scale incidents that are said to have occurred at the height of winter, when supply lines were difficult to maintain. There are also questions about the psychological state of the soldiers involved, who may have been driven to extreme measures as a result of traumatic experiences on the battlefield.
Russian soldiers in the trenches.Image: www.imago-images.de
The Russian embassy in London said it saw “no reason to comment” on these allegations. An embassy spokesman said: “What you have described are fabrications provided by Ukrainian military intelligence – an organization whose mission is to produce propaganda and not to collect facts.”
Ate the heart of an acquaintance
Although cases of cannibalism within the Russian army are indeed isolated incidents, they point to another problem: the recruitment of particularly dangerous criminals from prisons for the war against Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war, at least four murderers convicted of cannibalism have been released from Russian prisons; three of them were released early to go to the front.
These released perpetrators are responsible for at least twelve victims. In 2024, the serial killer from Volgograd, Dmitri Malyshev, was sent to the front. He had fried the heart of an acquaintance with vegetables and eaten it. For this he was sentenced to 25 years in prison, but was released after signing a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense. In the war against Ukraine, Malyshev was wounded and returned to his home village.
Most often, particularly dangerous criminals are sent by the Russian command to so-called “flesh attacks,” in which the chances of survival are extremely low. If such a criminal is killed in the war against Ukraine, regional authorities will reportedly do everything they can to preserve his memory. In addition to individual memorial plaques at schools and homes, portraits of fallen former prisoners and representations of their “services” are placed on school plaques, so-called “hero desks,” in memorial avenues and on street signs.
Museum exhibitions and sports competitions are also organized and trees are planted in their honor. According to research, the memory of at least 408 former prisoners were honored in this way in 58 regions of Russia during the war against Ukraine.
Since the start of the war against Ukraine, returning Russian soldiers have killed or seriously injured more than 750 civilians. In most cases, the attacks are directed against relatives or acquaintances of the perpetrators. (aargauerzeitung.ch)