Russia spends little on feeding the troops it sends to Ukraine, treating soldiers as expendable cannon fodder, and as a result, a few Russian solders starve to death or resort to cannibalism.
“Starving Russian soldiers in Ukraine have been eating their comrades and Ukrainians, according to intercepted Russian communications. Audio and photographic evidence indicates that several incidents of cannibalism likely occured in 2025. Ukrainian GUR intercepted a grim Russian radio call: a soldier, ‘Brelok,’ killed and ate his buddy ‘Foma’ for two weeks, then ended up dead himself near Kupiansk. He was with the 52nd Recon Battalion, 68th Motor Rifle Division.”
The Times reports that “an infantryman, Khromoy, was caught after killing two soldiers and attempting to eat the leg of one of his victims while stationed near Myrnohrad, in the contested Donetsk region, in November 2025. Khromoy belonged to the 95th Regiment of the 5th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, 51st Guards Combined Arms Army.”
The Sun reports that “Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine are accused of cannibalism after running out of food in winter. Sources claim there are at least five cases of troops eating comrades, likely isolated incidents linked to supply shortages and battlefield stress.”
Such cannibalism by troops is not unknown. Congolese troops in remote outposts sometimes starved to death or ate colleagues in the last years of the dictator Mobutu, because corrupt superiors embezzled the money needed to buy food for them.
Some Ukrainian troops also have been left starving when supplying them becomes difficult. It is not clear if any of them have died of starvation as a result. The Guardian reports:
Ukraine’s defence ministry has fired a top commander after photos emerged of a group of emaciated soldiers who have been left on the frontline for months without proper food and water.
The scandal erupted after the wife of one of the soldiers, Anastasiia Silchuk, posted the images on social media. The four men appeared to be pale and visibly malnourished, with prominent ribcages and thin arms.
The soldiers had spent eight months defending a shrinking bulge of territory on the left bank of the Oskil River, near the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, their relatives said. Supplies of food and medicines could only be flown in by drone.
“When the lads arrived at the frontlines, they weighed over 80–90kg. But now they weigh around 50kg,” Silchuk posted. After one delivery, she said, no more food turned up for 10 days. The soldiers were forced to drink rainwater and melt snow to survive.
“The longest they went without food was 17 days. They weren’t listened to on the radio, or perhaps no one wanted to listen to them. My husband shouted and begged, saying there was no food and water,” she said, adding that the problem was bigger than just one case.
