Drug use rife among Russian soldiers in Ukraine

Russian soldiers in occupied regions of Ukraine frequently take synthetic drugs and smoke marijuana, according to a report.

Verstka, an independent Russian news website, spoke with "dozens" of soldiers and residents in Russian-occupied Ukraine "to build a picture of the abuse", said The Times. It found that soldiers could "easily" get drugs delivered to their trenches, "either sold by locals, delivered unwittingly by volunteers" or "brought in by the men themselves". 

"It's like Las Vegas," one soldier told Verstka. "Everyone knows if you're taking drugs in the trenches, of course – the dugout is small. Nobody gives a damn; the main thing is not to bother anyone." Substance abuse takes place on both the frontlines and rear positions, according to the report. 

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Mephedrone, amphetamines and alpha-PVP, known as "salt", are among the substances soldiers frequently take, with effects including "paranoia and hallucinations", said The Times. The drugs aren't cheap, due to "the risk of delivery in the war zone". Some soldiers use the Telegram app to arrange deliveries with dealers. 

One user told Verstka that soldiers take drugs "out of boredom. War is when you're constantly waiting for something, occasionally praying for it all to be over." Another said he had also known of Ukrainian soldiers taking drugs. 

Russia is "thought to have struggled to maintain discipline and morale" among its troops in Ukraine, said The Times, as soldiers have reacted to "incompetent superiors and high numbers of casualties". 

In June, Radio Free Europe reported that health specialists were concerned "about a spike in drug addiction" as thousands of soldiers returned to Russia. Polish historian Lukasz Kamienski told the news organisation that "drug addiction among soldiers has a long history". 

For some servicemen, he said, "such self-medication is often the only way of reducing the psychological burden of combat and the horrors of war".