A soldier from Russia, stationed on the Ukrainian frontlines, is reported by Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate (HUR) to have killed a fellow officer and survived on his remains for a period of two weeks.
HUR shared what they described as an intercepted communication between two soldiers serving under Vladimir Putin. The discussion allegedly involved accusations of cannibalistic behavior within their ranks.
In the recording, one soldier vividly recounts to his shocked colleague that an infantryman, nicknamed Brelok or ‘keychain,’ murdered his comrade Foma and resorted to consuming him.
‘F***ing hell… Brelok f***ing ate him, f*** me… nobody went anywhere. Brelok whacked him and then ate him for f***ing two weeks,’ the first caller says.
‘No f***ing way… holy sh*t… f*** my bald skull. Was Brelok really found as a 200?’ the other responds.
The term 200 refers to someone who is found killed in action.
‘Yeah, they say he was a 200. He ate his comrade. So yeah… something to think about. I was shocked myself,’ the first caller concluded.
Russian troops fire toward Ukrainian positions at an undisclosed location in Ukraine
One soldier was heard telling his stunned comrade in an expletive-laden rant how a soldier nicknamed Brelok – or ‘keychain’ – killed his fellow infantryman ‘Foma’ and began eating him
Russia has swelled its ranks with hardened criminals, including cannibals and murderers. Cannibal Dmitry Malyshev (left) and murderer-rapist Alexander Maslennikov (right) were pictured grinning together in military fatigues after being freed from jail to fight
Ukraine’s HUR has intermittently shared snippets of phone calls it says are genuine interceptions of Russian communications since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, though there is no way to verify whether they are genuine.
But several Russian units engaged in frontline combat in Ukraine are made up of hardened criminals who agreed to sign up for the so-called ‘special military operation’ in exchange for a commutation of their sentences.
In May 2024, it emerged that a convicted cannibal and a murderer-rapist were among the men freed by the Russian defence ministry before heading to the frontlines.
Dmitry Malyshev, 36, was jailed after frying the heart of one of three men he killed.
He was hit with a 25-year sentence for ‘murder of two people with particular cruelty as part of a criminal gang, banditry, theft and illegal trafficking of weapons and ammunition, preparation for the murder of police officers, robbery and eating the heart of the last victim’, Russian media reported.
Meanwhile, rapist and killer Alexander Maslennikov, 38, used an axe and a meat grinder to cut up and mince the bodies of two women he invited to his flat for a pizza, before ‘feeding human flesh to the dogs’.
The pair were pictured grinning together in military fatigues after being freed from jail in late 2023.
Olga Shaposhnikova (left) and Daria Labutina (right) were murdered by Alexander Maslennikov
Sickening rapist and killer Alexander Maslennikov, 38, used an axe and a meat grinder to cut up and mince the bodies of two women he invited to his flat
Malyshev had been jailed for 25 years for ‘murder of two people with particular cruelty’ and eating the heart of the last victim’, a Tajik immigrant
Alexander Maslennikov (left), now 38, a convicted multiple rapist jailed for 23 years after torturing, murdering and dismembering two women he invited to his flat for pizza
Malyshev told Russia’s V1 outlet that he and Maslennikov wanted ‘to preserve the traditional values of Russia’ in fighting for Putin.
‘Alexander and I were serving sentences together and we both signed contracts with the Ministry of Defence in October 2023.’
In his confession, Malyshev – pardoned and released 17 years early by Russian courts in coordination with the Defence Ministry – told police about his cannibalism.
‘I caught up with a man there, and killed him.
‘I hit him several times in the head with a nail gun and cut out his heart,’ he said, adding that he took the heart home.
In a crime reconstruction, he said: ‘I reached in with my hand and pulled out the heart… I sliced it here, the heart’s on the table, I just sliced it. Then I put it in a frying pan and started frying it… Then I ate it.
‘Well, well, well, we’re frying human flesh. Here we have a heart.’
He said he ‘added the onions and the seasoning… Now I’m gonna stir it in. It’s going to be ******* awesome.’
Footage taken during the investigation shows Malyshev discussing how he killed a man and ate his heart
Maslennikov, a convicted rapist, was jailed for 23 years for double murder, but released from jail by Putin 18-and-a-half years early
Dmitry Malyshev, now 36, is a convicted multiple murderer jailed for 25 years after cutting out, cooking and eating the heart of his friend
Maslennikov, a convicted rapist and murderer, is pictured being put into a police van
Malyshev said he and Maslennikov wanted ‘to preserve the traditional values of Russia’ in fighting for Putin, he said, according to V1 media
Maslennikov, a convicted rapist, was jailed for 23 years for double murder, but released from jail by Putin 18-and-a-half years early.
He killed two sales assistants, Daria Labutina, 29, and Olga Shaposhnikova, 28, after meeting them at a karaoke bar and inviting them to his flat for pizza.
He testified that he had sex with Daria – and then killed her in the bathroom.
Maslennikov then went to eat pizza and smoke with Olga, who was initially unaware her friend had been murdered.
After she refused to have sex with him, he tied her up and gagged her – smoking and drinking next to her as she pleaded in vain for her life.
Forensic evidence showed Olga died from strangulation. Maslennikov stabbed her repeatedly after death.
He then went to buy an axe, file, spade, and plastic bin bags.
Prosecutors told the court the DNA of both women was found on a meat grinder in his kitchen.
Local reports citing law enforcement said that he fed some meat to dogs.
