‘Drug use among ‘bored’ Russian soldiers is rife, with troops in the trenches smoking ‘salt’ narcotic that induces paranoia and hallucinations – and washing it down with vodka’

• One in 10 Russian soldiers reportedly smokes marijuana or takes hard drugs 

Drug use among ‘bored’ Russian soldiers is allegedly rife, with troops in the trenches smoking the ‘salt’ narcotic that induces paranoia and hallucinations, according to Russian media. 

After speaking to dozens of soldiers, drug-users and residents in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, independent Russian newspaper Verstka reported that narcotics were easily available to servicemen in the trenches.

‘They do drugs out of boredom,’ a soldier claimed and added that boredom while waiting for something to happen was ‘a lot worse’ than worrying about adverse drug reactions.

He said: ‘War is when you’re constantly waiting for something, occasionally praying for it all to be over. When I was smoking salt in the dugout, I didn’t give a f*** about a possible freakout [bout of paranoia]. The boredom’s a lot worse.’

According to Verstka, one in 10 soldiers smokes marijuana, with many also taking hard drugs like ‘salt’ – a synthetic drug called alpha-PVP -, which one soldier described smoking off a jar lid through a ballpoint pen and washing it down with vodka.

‘They do drugs out of boredom,’ a soldier claimed and added that boredom while waiting for something to happen was ‘a lot worse’ than worrying about adverse drug reactions (file image of a Russian soldier in occupied Mariupol)

‘It’s like in Las Vegas,’ another soldier said. He claimed that one Russian soldier brought him a gram of salt straight to the trenches.

The troop who regularly uses drugs to escape boredom said the close proximity to each other in the trenches means that fellow troops know who is using substances.

READ MORE: Putin’s ‘zombie soldiers’ are returning from Ukraine with thirst for violence after being warped by aggression of Russian invasion 

But higher ups would turn a blind eye, as long as the drug-users ‘don’t bother anyone’ and wouldn’t leave the dugout to take or smoke something.

Soldiers confirmed to investigators that it was easy to get hold of drugs in occupied territories and on the front lines. 

Drug paraphernalia is often found in Russian trenches, due to drug couriers bringing the substances and equipment – mainly ‘gunpowder’ (amphetamine), ‘pinecones’ (marijuana) and salt – to the front lines. 

The substances are delivered either by locals or by unwitting volunteers who bring the soldiers equipment. Some are even brought to the front lines by the men themselves, who pass the lax checks. 

Russian soldiers can earn up to 200,000 roubles (£1,700) a month, which is four times the average salary in the country, and some spend their war-earned cash to order from dealers via messaging app Telegram.

A popular order is salt, which can cause paranoia and hallucinations, and can lead to aggressive behaviour or self-injury.

Prices for the different drugs are high due to the risky delivery route, with three syringes of a substance costing 15,000 roubles (£125), according to a soldier who spoke to Verstka.

Some Russian soldiers said they haven’t witnessed or heard of any drug-users in the trenches, but admitted that they drink a lot at the front. ‘Whether they go on the attack high – f*** knows,’ the soldier said (pictured: file image of Russian soldiers in Mariupol)

Another man who spoke to Verstka, Vadim, lives in occupied Mariupol. He said that the price of drugs in the occupied territory is double than what it is in Moscow.

He said he saw Russian soldiers high several times: ‘I could tell they weren’t in their right mind.’ 

The high salary of soldiers also attract drug-users who hope to finance their addiction with the army pay, soldier Kirill has revealed.

READ MORE: ‘It’s like a zombie movie’: Wagner recruits ‘are pumped full of drugs that enable them to keep fighting until they bleed out, even when hit by machineguns’ 

He said he had a 27-year-old comrade who enlisted, but he didn’t know ‘how he got past the medical commission in the Moscow region’.

During a military assignment, this friend began shaking and sweating excessively, which was later diagnosed as an overdose.  

The drug culture among Russian soldiers seems increasingly common, as a video circulating on Telegram in August indicates, which appears to show uniformed soldiers smoking marijuana through a tin can.

The caption to the video said it was ‘not surprising that after commands from the military leadership when conscripts are thrown under fire like cannon fodder, they have to suppress memories of the horrors of war with the help of alcohol and drugs,’ according to Newsweek.

But Vadim told Verstka he also knew of Ukrainian soldiers taking drugs in Mariupol before the city was occupied by Russia. 

Some Russian soldiers said they haven’t witnessed or heard of any drug-users in the trenches, but admitted that they drink a lot at the front. ‘Whether they go on the attack high – f*** knows,’ the soldier said.

He reiterated that the main problem on the front lines was boredom, saying he had only fired his gun twice since March last year.   

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