Russia’s infamous Wagner Group has been accused of supplying its troops with drugs to boost resistance on the front lines as the war nears the one-year mark and Russian casualties mount.
Fierce fighting continues in the Donbas region, and despite months of intense warfare and concentrated efforts from both its army and the use of hired mercenary soldiers, Russia has failed to make any major gains or take the town of Bakhmut in Donetsk.
Urban and trench warfare not seen in Europe since World War II has dominated eastern Ukraine, where soldiers from both sides fight in dire conditions.
Cadets of a military academy fire a salute during the funeral of Dmitry Menshikov, a mercenary from the Russian private military company Wagner Group, killed during the military conflict in Ukraine, at the Alley of Heroes at a cemetery in Saint Petersburg, Russia, The 24th of December. 2022. (REUTERS/Igor Russak)
WAGNER’S BOSS SAYS HE IS TURNING CONVICTED RUSSIAN FIGHTERS DESTINED FOR UKRAINE INTO ‘CANNIBALS’
Afflictions associated with 20th century warfare, such as trench foot, frostbite, and gangrene, have become a constant threat to soldiers on the front lines who fight, eat, and sleep in muddy, icy conditions.
Suspicions about drug use among Russia’s ranks were first raised in November when Ukrainian soldiers told AFP that fighting Russian forces was like fighting “zombies.”
“You shoot at them and more are coming all the time,” said one soldier.
Strange accounts of more Ukrainian soldiers surfaced again last week when a soldier told CNN that a firefight with Wagner’s forces, which lasted about 10 hours, stunned defending troops after they saw a gunman beat at least a mercenary soldier only to have it reappear earlier. him eventually falling over as he supposedly bled to death.
Ukrainian military make a trench near Bakhmut on February 1, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)
A Ukrainian soldier said he believed they must have been taking performance-enhancing drugs after describing how “they go up[ed] over the corpse of his friends, stepping on them” to continue.
Fox News Digital was unable to verify whether Wagner or the Russian forces received drugs to enhance their stamina on the front lines.
Although performance-enhancing drugs during warfare are not a new concept.
The infamous Nazi distributed methamphetamine, now known as crystal meth, to their soldiers before the invasion of France and Allied forces allegedly used amphetamines, also called amphetamines, to combat fatigue.
Russia expert and former intelligence officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency for Russian Doctrine and Strategy, Rebekah Koffler, explained that while there is no direct evidence that Russian officials are supplying forces with drugs, she said that “it is not I’d be surprised.”
A man places flowers on the coffin during the funeral of Dmitry Menshikov, a mercenary from the Russian private military company Wagner Group, killed during the military conflict in Ukraine, at the Alley of Heroes at a cemetery in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on 24 December 2022. (REUTERS/Igor Russack)
RUSSIAN WAGNER GROUP GAINS GLOBAL NOTORIETY FROM AFRICA TO UKRAINE, BUT DIVISION IS BREWED AT HOME
Wagner’s boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has taken a direct interest in the success of his mercenary forces when it comes to the war in Ukraine.
Last year it began recruiting convicts to join its ranks in exchange for commuted sentences, meaning that as long as a convict-turned-conscript stays alive for six months in Ukraine, they will be granted their freedom.
“Progozhin is trying to show Putin that his fighters are fighting machines,” Koffler said. “That they can accomplish their mission better than the Russian army.”
Russia’s military has long distanced itself from mercenary groups, but the public controversy between Wagner and the Russian military in recent weeks reflects the growing fissures in Russia’s fighting force.
Russian forces have a history of drug abuse, including during Moscow’s involvement in Afghanistan in the 1980s, when various reports showed that Russian soldiers had become addicted to heroin.
While it is unclear whether Russian soldiers in Ukraine are using drugs (from independent or officially provided sources), it likely indicates low morale in the Russian ranks.
Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin attends the funeral of Dmitry Menshikov, a Wagner group fighter who died during a special operation in Ukraine, at the Beloostrovskoye cemetery outside Saint Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, December 24, 2022. . (AP Photo)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“What Russia usually uses is fear,” he said, pointing to Progozhin’s brutal tactics to keep his soldiers in line, including the November execution of a mercenary who was sledgehammered to death after switching sides to fight for Ukraine. .
“A dog receives a dog’s death,” Progozhin infamously said in response to a graphic video.
