A Ukrainian soldier with an anti-tank weapon that was used to destroy a Russian armoured personal carrier in Irpin, north of Kyiv, on March 12, 2022
A Ukrainian soldier with an anti-tank weapon that was used to destroy a Russian armoured personal carrier in Irpin, north of Kyiv, on March 12, 2022

Russian soldiers have begun eating dog meat after becoming “sick” of the ration packs they were given, an intercepted phone call revealed.

In a tapped phone call released by Ukraine’s Security Service, a Russian soldier was heard telling a family member that they have begun eating dog meat, adding that they were already sick of the quality of their years-old ration packs. The long-life rations typically contain meat, vegetables, crackers, porridge and multivitamins.

“We had Alabay (dog) yesterday,” the soldier told his family member. “We wanted some meat. We have dry rations but we are sick of dry rations.”

During the phone call, the Russian soldier also said he witnessed three members of his unit raping a 16-year-old girl during the war. It is unclear when or where the phone call took place.

This comes as officials in Ukraine announced they are investigating allegations of a 33-year-old woman who said two Russian soldiers killed her 35-year-old husband and repeatedly raped her while her 4-year-old son cried in the next room.

“He told me to take my clothes off. Then they both raped me one after the other. They didn’t care that my son was in the boiler room crying. They told me to go shut him up and come back,” the woman told The Times of London.

"He said 'you'd better shut up or I'll get your child and show him his mother's brains spread around the house. All the time they held the gun by my head and taunted me, saying, 'How do you think she sucks it? Shall we kill her or keep her alive?'"

It is unclear when the incident took place. However, Ukraine prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova last week posted on her Facebook page about a Russian soldier killing an unarmed civilian and then raping his wife. The incident allegedly took place on March 9.

There have also been other reports of Russian soldiers gang-raping women, most of whom are senior citizens who are unable to fight back. The victims were either killed after being raped or took their own lives.

Despite the reports, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed the allegations and said they do not trust Ukraine’s attorney general’s office. He also argued that Russians did not strike or shoot civilians.

At an animal shelter near the city of Przemysl, Joanna Puchalska-Tracz welcomed 38 dogs and 32 cats from Ukraine on Wedesday, taken from Kyiv by the German organisation White Paw in several cars

At an animal shelter near the city of Przemysl, Joanna Puchalska-Tracz welcomed 38 dogs and 32 cats from Ukraine on Wedesday, taken from Kyiv by the German organisation White Paw in several cars Photo: AFP / Louisa GOULIAMAKI