Putin's troops on the frontline have sparked fears of battlefield barbarity after Ukrainian intelligence claimed soldiers have resorted to cannibalism.

Disturbing material, including a cache of images and alleged intercepted audio exchanges between senior Russian officers, is said to point to a series of shocking incidents involving soldiers consuming the remains of their own comrades.

One Ukrainian intelligence source said there was evidence of at least five different incidents in which Russian infantrymen were accused by fellow troops and commanders of eating other soldiers, according to The Sunday Times.

According to Ukrainian officials, the files were obtained by cybersecurity specialists trawling through the messaging app Telegram for battlefield intelligence.

Among the most disturbing allegations is a reported case involving a soldier identified by the call sign Khromoy - meaning 'limpy' in Russian - who was allegedly discovered after killing two comrades and attempting to consume part of one of their bodies near Myrnohrad in the contested Donetsk region in November 2025.

He is said to have been serving with the 95th regiment of the 5th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade.

In a Telegram exchange, an unnamed officer reportedly relayed details of the cannibalistic act to Lieutenant Razikov Vladislav Abdulkhalykovych, deputy commander of the brigade's reconnaissance battalion.

He allegedly shared several images, including a graphic photograph and pictures of a severely malnourished soldier.

The newspaper said it had carried out its own independent analysis using AI detection tools, which suggested the images had not been digitally altered.

An independent conflict surgeon who reviewed the image said the injuries did not resemble those typically caused by battlefield explosions.  

'It doesn't look like a blast or fragment injury,' they said. 'It looks like it has been cut with a sharp knife.' 

Audio messages from the same exchange allegedly captured the officer describing the scenes.

'In short, one ally killed two others, and he tried… he cut off a leg and was already trying to eat one of them,' the unnamed officer said. 

'In the end, today they went and found the place where he had taken them to the basement, cut off a leg and was already, through a meat grinder or something, sitting there, turning it, trying to eat… He opened fire on them when they came to check on him. They killed him.' 

The officer added alongside an image of the soldier: 'I have no idea where he got that meat grinder. That's the most interesting part.'

Lieutenant Abdulkhalykovych responded: 'Are they not being fed or what? I don't understand.'

The officer replied: 'Ours will also soon start eating each other… All the guys are skinny. Everyone is on starvation rations'.

Separate Telegram conversations are said to reference other alleged cases.

In one, dated April 3 last year, a soldier with the call sign Most, reportedly complained about sharing a dugout near Bakhmut with another serviceman. 

'If he were a human being, he could stay here as long as he liked, but he ate a corpse, human meat,' he said. 'I am a Muslim. I don't want someone like that coming into my shelter.' 

In another exchange from October 2025, a unit commander near Pokrovsk is said to have rebuked a subordinate: 'If you had said something, I would have given you a direction on where to go, where to get meat,' before adding: 'Why the f*** are you eating Khokhols… Stop f****** eating people.'

A further message allegedly sent in December by a brigade chief of staff instructed troops: 'No alcohol! No drugs! No moving around without identity documents! No cannibalism!'

As per the Sunday Times, the Russian Embassy in London declined to engage with the claims, insisting: 'What you have described are fabrications supplied by Ukrainian military intelligence - an outfit whose function is the production of propaganda, not the gathering of facts.' 

If the latest intelligence is accurate, the cases appear to be limited and isolated, reportedly occurring during the harshest winter period when supply routes were under strain and food dwindled.

A senior Ukrainian military source said the urban fighting and a bitter winter had made sourcing food increasingly difficult.

He expressed surprise at the reports, noting Russia's agricultural capacity and the relative ease of transporting supplies via drones.

Nevertheless, there have been repeated complaints from Russian troops about inadequate provisions, including reports of expired rations and units left without supplies for extended periods. 

Early in the conflict, The New York Times reported some soldiers had been issued food packs that expired in 2002. 

Footage released by Ukraine’s SBU security service in 2023 showed Russian soldiers looting shops and homes in search of food, while Kyiv says increasing numbers of captured troops claim they were starving. 

A Ukrainian surrender initiative, I Want To Live, reports that around 10,000 Russian soldiers have laid down their arms, most within the past year. 

Kyiv has also previously released snippets of what it says are intercepted Russian communications, though Moscow routinely dismisses such material as fabricated.