The British newspaper The Sunday Times, with the help of an expert and computer programs, has confirmed a case of cannibalism in the Russian army. Earlier, Ukrainian military intelligence reported this, writes "Agenstvo".
This case became known thanks to a conversation between an officer and Lieutenant Vladislav Razikov, deputy commander of the 5th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade. The intercepts were provided by Ukrainian intelligence.
The servicemen communicated via Telegram in November 2025 near Myrnohrad in the Donetsk region. The person identified in cannibalism is referred to by the call sign Khramy, he served in the 95th regiment of the 5th brigade.
An unnamed officer describes the "incident".
"In short, one of ours killed two others, and he tried... he cut off a leg and was already trying to eat it," the officer says. He then describes how Khramy was found by two servicemen who were sent to investigate his absence.
"Eventually, today they went and found the place where he dragged them into the basement, cut off a leg and was already sitting there, grinding it through a meat grinder or something like that, in an attempt to eat it... He opened fire. They killed him," the officer says.
The officer also sent Razikov photographs of the leg and the emaciated soldier. According to The Sunday Times' analysis, the photographs were not AI-generated or edited.
An independent military surgeon explained to the publication that it is unlikely that the injuries visible in the photographs were sustained as a result of military action. "It looks as if it was cut off with a sharp knife," the surgeon said.
The photograph of Khramy's body shows that he is severely emaciated.
Upon receiving the photo, Razikov asked: "Are they not being fed or what? I don't understand." The officer replied that "ours will soon start eating each other" and that "everyone is on starvation rations."
Razikov has been involved in the invasion since at least the beginning of 2023, according to leaked database information.
Pro-Kremlin media mentioned him as the deputy commander of the 5th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade named after Alexander Zakharchenko of the 51st Combined Arms Army within the "Center" group of forces. In July 2025, he told TASS about Ukrainian scouts in Mykolaivka, and in October of the same year — about the capture of the settlement Moskovskoye in the DPR.
The Sunday Times also reports on three more intercepted messages from Russian servicemen, in which cases of cannibalism were discussed.
In a conversation on April 3, 2025, a soldier with the call sign Most from the 54th Motorized Rifle Regiment complains to his officer. "If he were a man, he could stay as long as he wants, but he ate a corpse, human flesh. I am a Muslim. I don't want someone like him entering my dugout," the serviceman says.
In another conversation on October 8, 2025, the commander of the 1437th Motorized Rifle Regiment accuses one of his subordinates. "Why the f*** are you eating Khokhols? Stop the f*** eating people," The Sunday Times quotes him as saying.
In yet another Telegram message, Ukrainian hackers found an order to the 55th Motorized Rifle Regiment: "No alcohol! No drugs! No movement without documents! No cannibalism!"
In December 2025, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine published a recording on which a man can be heard saying that he is ready to kill "someone young." "I've sharpened the knives, I don't care who to cut, I want to eat," the man said.
In the summer, the GUR published a recording of negotiations about a serviceman with the call sign Brelok killing and eating his comrade. "Brelok killed him, and then ate him for two f***ing weeks," says the man on the recording.
The Russian Embassy in London told the publication that it saw "no grounds for comment." A representative said: "What you have described are fabrications provided by Ukrainian military intelligence – an organization whose function is to produce propaganda, not to collect facts."
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