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REL Analysis: How Russian intelligence recruited prisoners for the war in Ukraine!
2025-04-30 09:05:21 / BOTA
The Russian military intelligence agency (GRU) has overseen the recruitment of prisoners into combat units, known as "Storm Z".
The GRU also funded these units and collected information about victims, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports in its latest investigative documentary titled: "Ghost Slaughterhouse: How Russian Prisoners Fight in Ukraine."
The project to recruit prisoners for the war in Ukraine began in the summer of 2022 – exactly when the private mercenary organization, Wagner, began recruiting prisoners into its ranks.
But, by February 2023, the Russian Ministry of Defense became the sole entity responsible for sending prisoners to the war fronts.
The operational management of the “Storm Z” units was carried out by units within Russia’s Southern Military District.
Two military units from the 8th Guards Army, together with the Center for Training and Displacement of Assault Units and Reinforcements, were responsible for training fighters and managing documentation, including financial data.
This center, which developed the tactics used by assault units made up of convicts, was created within the United Forces Group, which serves as the command center for Russia's war in Ukraine.
Initially, this center was led by General Sergey Surovikin and is currently headed by the Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov.
Another command center for "Storm Z" is the GRU.
Systema has obtained documents showing that contracts signed by prisoners have a special secrecy classification and are stored in a special GRU archive.
Information about prisoners of war killed in action is sent to the intelligence office, the Main Directorate of the General Staff (GU GS, the modern name for the GRU). This information is sent by the 8th Guards Army via secure communication channels.
“ Financial support and processing of various payments for the volunteers of the assault company [Z] are entrusted to military unit 45807, based in Moscow,” reads one of the documents, signed by Colonel Sergey Ivanov of the 8th Guards.
The address of this unit has also been published: Moscow, Horoshevskoye Highway, 76b. This is the same address as the GRU headquarters, and the commander of unit 45807 is Igor Kostyukov, who is the head of the GRU.
The "Storm Z" project was officially initiated by order of the Chief of General Staff on February 24, 2023, according to the Systema documentary.
At the same time, the Ministry of Defense and the GRU have united various mercenary formations into a single structure: the Volunteer Corps.
This corps includes units where fighters have served under the same status as so-called volunteers, as well as several BARS (State Assault Reservists) units and dozens of detachments from the private mercenary company, Redut.
Former prisoners from “Storm Z” fought in Ukraine under the same status as volunteers, having signed so-called volunteer contracts. The contracts had some restrictions. For example, prisoners could not terminate the contracts themselves, they had low salaries and had few benefits.
In February 2023, the GRU assumed the role of supervisor over almost all "volunteer" units, and "Storm Z" seems to have been no exception./REL
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