One documented case involves a soldier nicknamed "Khromoy" (Russian for "Limpy"), allegedly caught in a basement near Myrnohrad in the Donetsk region after killing two fellow soldiers and attempting to consume one of them. In a leaked Telegram exchange, an officer reported: "In short, one ally killed two others and he tried—he cut off a leg and was already trying to eat one of them." Another intercepted message from a commander stated: "Ours will also soon start eating each other. All the guys are skinny. Everyone is on starvation rations." Specialist AI detection software analyzed images from the scene and concluded they had not been doctored; a conflict surgeon examining the photos noted that wounds were consistent with sharp knife marks rather than battlefield shrapnel. The Kremlin's Embassy in London dismissed the claims as "propaganda" and "fabrications."
Western analysts attribute the underlying cause to a total failure of Russian logistics. Bradley Martin, a former U.S. naval captain and researcher at the Rand Corporation, noted that troop welfare is simply "not a major priority" for the Kremlin. Military analyst Vikram Mittal added that the particularly harsh winter and Ukraine's relentless drone strikes on resupply trucks have left many Russian units completely cut off from food supplies.