A DECADE AGO, FOLLOWING A U.S. DECISION TO arm Syrian rebels to which he was staunchly opposed, Russian President Vladimir Putin was unequivocal on the subject of cannibalism.
“One does not really need to support the people who not only kill their enemies, but open up their bodies, eat their intestines, in front of the public and cameras,” he said, likely responding to video footage of a rebel commander cutting the body of a fallen soldier and biting into one of his organs.
“Are these the people you want to support? Is it them who you want to supply with weapons?”
Now that stance seems to have changed. Not only has Russia revived the Stalin-era practice of throwing convicted murderers onto the battlefield to support its war in Ukraine, this so-called “suicide squad” includes at least two cannibals.
The Kremlin has recruited tens of thousands of prisoners since
