Investigation: Russia deploys punishment battalions in echo of Stalin

Russia's 'Storm-Z' squads: Tale of hundreds of offenders sent to frontlines to fight Ukraine

Drunk recruits. Insubordinate soldiers. Convicts. They're among hundreds of military and civilian offenders who've been pressed into Russian penal units known as "Storm-Z" squads and sent to the frontlines in Ukraine this year, according to 13 people with knowledge of the matter, including five fighters in the units. Few live to tell their tale, the people said. "Storm fighters, they're just meat," said one regular soldier from army unit no. 403…

Russian soldiers who drink and break rules get sent to punishment battalions where they are likely to die fighting, report says

Russia set up its Storm Z program at the beginning of the year in an attempt to replace the Wagner Group .

Putin Follows the Stalin Playbook With Nightmarish Punishment Battalions

“Storm-Z” squads are being sent to the darkest corners of the war in Ukraine.

Drunk and disobedient Russian soldiers sent to deaths in Storm-Z suicide squads in Ukraine

Troops transferred to fight in most dangerous areas of front line without proper process, claim fighters

'They're just meat': Russia deploys punishment battalions in echo of Stalin

Russian penal units known as "Storm-Z" squads have been sending hundreds of military and civilian offenders, including drunk recruits and convicts, to the frontlines in Ukraine this year, according to multiple sources. These penal squads, which are embedded within regular army units, have sustained heavy losses and are considered expendable infantry by the Russian defense ministry.

'They're just meat': Russia deploys punishment battalions in echo of Stalin

Drunk recruits. Insubordinate soldiers. Convicts. They're among hundreds of military and civilian offenders who've been pressed into Russian penal units known as "Storm-Z" squads and sent to the frontlines in Ukraine this year, according to 13 people with knowledge of the matter, including five fighters in the units.