Russian troops have been so barbaric and committed such atrocities that they must be on drugs, a UN official has claimed.

Reports have begun to come in from Ukrainian troops that Russian fighters from the notorious Wagner Mercenary Group have been battling on despite severe gunshot wounds.

The troops have raised questions whether these men could have been “given drugs” at some point ahead of the battle.

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The Mirror reports that the likelihood of Vladimir Putin’s forces using narcotics is heightened by the extreme violence that has been exhibited throughout the conflict.

Torture, genocide, mass graves and rape have all listed among the anecdotal claims made by survivors of the horrors in Ukraine.

Claims have even been made about the use of electric torture, beheadings and mock executions.

One woman claimed that, while she was sexually assaulted, Russian troops boiled her hands.

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An epidemiologist for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Kamran Niaz, explained to the Mirror some of the logic as to why Russian troops might be on drugs – in essence saying the things Russian troops have been doing are not the actions of “normal” people.

He said: "There is definitely, if you look at the kind of acts that people [Russian soldiers] commit, even some of the past acts where you saw photos of beheadings, or just cutting the throat of a person with a hatchet or whatever.

"Those are very violent acts and you don't see them done by someone with a normal mindset.

"Someone has to be under the influence of something, like a methamphetamine or any of those kinds of stimulants, or even hallucinogenics – That could make you commit such violent acts."

He also reckoned that the Wagner Group’s policy of recruiting convicts to fight in its mercenary army could mean that its forces come from backgrounds with more exposure to drugs.

He even claimed that, given the presence of drugs in Russian prisons, some could have been under the influence when Wagner leader Yevgeny Progozhin made the rounds getting people to recruit.

He said: "They will also have deployed convicts and many of those convicts would have been on drug use charges.

"They may continue to have access to the drugs when they are deployed."

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