Over 30,000 Russian prisoners recruited for Storm Z Unit
Russian independent outlet "Vazhnie Istorii" (Important Stories) has reported that the Storm Z unit, formed from Russian prisoners, may have recruited approximately 30,000 individuals from various penal colonies.
As part of their study, analysts delved into thousands of social media posts where family members have been actively looking for missing Russian soldiers, often providing ID tag numbers. Out of 6,000 such posts, 2,038 had ID tag numbers. Journalists discovered that in 657 instances, former inmates received tags from the "AB" series, once distributed in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR).
Recruitment for Storm Z took place from February to September 2023, with the last "AB" series tag issued in late August of the same year. As of September 2023, recruits were being enrolled into Storm V, receiving standard military identity tags like regular Russian Armed Forces personnel, the report noted. Based on patterns in ID number sequences, "Vazhnie Istorii" assessed an estimated prisoner count in Storm Z, suggesting that recruiters managed to induct inmates from at least 108 colonies within a six-month period, dispatching them to the frontlines in batches by region, indicated by close tag numbers.
Inmates in Storm Z were given tags within the range AB-170000 to AB-205000, though omitting a segment of 6,000 numbers. This, combined with the consecutive numbering for inmates from the same region, supports dense issuance of numbers. Consequently, the outlet inferred that between 28,200 and 29,000 prisoners had been recruited into Storm Z. This number could be higher, excluding service members from the initial recruitment wave between late February and April 2023. Therefore, it is likely that more than 30,000 prisoners passed through Storm Z, the outlet concluded.
Following the escalation of the invasion of Ukraine and significant setbacks faced by the Russian military, Russian authorities began extensive recruitment of prisoners from colonies, deploying them to the battlefield. Until the spring of 2023, this was facilitated by the private military company Wagner, run by Yevgeny Prigozhin. Thereafter, prisoners started being recruited into the Storm Z unit, which falls under the direct oversight of Russia's Ministry of Defense.