Storm-Z

The existence of the Storm-Z units was first uncovered on April 6, when Ukrainian forces captured documents detailing their penal recruitment and formations. The Russian Ministry of Defence modeled the units after the Wagner Group's penal recruitment after their falling out with Wagner's former leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin.[5] The unit's members are recruited from Russian prisons on the premise that successful service would result in a deduction of their sentence, as well as earn them $2,200 a month.[6][7] The Institute for the Study of War assessed that the Storm-Z units would be attached to Russian forces undergoing battle fatigue. They also reported that each company consisted of 100 men broken into four capture squads of 10 persons each, four fire support squads of 10 persons each, a 2 person command element, a 5 person combat engineering group, an 8 person reconnaissance group, a 3 person medevac group, and a 2 person UAV crew.[8] Each company would only receive 10 to 15 days of training before being sent into active combat, namely in urban fighting in the Battle of Bakhmut and the Battle of Avdiivka.[7] Various Russian commands and units have had Storm-Z companies attached to them, first seeing service in the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army of Russia and the 1st Army Corps, the armed forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.[4]

Storm-Z fighters have said that their units suffer from incompetent leadership, lack of supplies, and faulty equipment. Three Storm-Z POWs told CNN of routinely malfunctioning artillery, inaccurate rocket barrages, and commanders under the influence of painkillers giving "nonsensical orders". They also said that obtaining food and water required hiking 5 km (3 mi) through a minefield.[9][10] The units also suffer from low morale and when given the chance they surrender to Ukrainian forces in high numbers. During the opening days of the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive a large contingent of penal-soldiers, as well as draftees, surrendered outside Velyka Novosilka. These prisoners confirmed reports that veteran units of the Russian army are positioned behind units consisting of penal-soldiers and draftees, acting as barrier troops to shoot any that try to retreat or surrender.[11] Shortly after, one such instance of barrier forces opening fire on retreating Russian units was captured on film by a Ukrainian drone.[12] Storm-Z units where also deployed to the Svatove–Kreminna line performing "highly attritional attacks" against Ukrainian positions with two Russian Airborne Forces divisions, the 76th and 98th Guards Airborne Divisions acting as their barrier forces.[13][14]

During the Wagner Group rebellion, several Storm-Z units pledged their loyalty to the Wagner Group and vowed to help Yevgeny Prigozhin topple the Russian military structure. However, after Prigozhin ended the rebellion and turned his convoys around shortly outside Moscow, these Storm-Z units accused him of "cowardice" and stated that he had “double-crossed them”. They went on to say that due to their support for Wagner, their commanders have begun issuing punishments to disloyal units.[15][16] The Storm-Z units are overseen by the Head of the General Staff’s Main Organizational and Mobilization Directorate Colonel General Yevgeni Burdinskiy who has been heavily criticized by Russian nationalists for his inability to account for all the Storm-Z units.[2]