Pro-Kremlin propaganda person and TV host Anastasia Kashevarova on her Telegram channel acknowledged the problem of the spread of hepatitis C and HIV in the Russian front line.

According to her, the cause was the recruitment of fighters with such diagnoses, first from prisons, and then from the general population, as well as drug use in the army.

Kashevarova blames “gypsies and the local unreliable element” for the fact that Russian soldiers use psychoactive substances. In reality, those who used drugs before going to war continue to use them even on the frontline. Since the full-scale invasion began, a drug market similar to Russia’s has flourished in the occupied territories, as described by soldiers and dealers themselves to the publications Novaya Gazeta Europe and Verstka.

Among other things, Kashevarova claims that in Ukrainian captivity, Russian soldiers are allegedly deliberately housed with people with HIV, “so they get infected and bring it all back to Russia.” However, Kashevarova does not mention that HIV is transmitted only through sexual contact or blood-to-blood contact.

“Right now, there is just an epidemic of Hepatitis C in the army. Hepatitis doesn’t show up immediately. Not only are fellow soldiers at risk, but also loved ones and relatives when a fighter is on leave at home,” Kashevarova writes.

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[Edit typo.]