Russia forms Storm Z ‘prisoner’ unit to compete with Wagner, says military expert
"Like Wagner Group mercenaries, Storm Z consists of prisoners. It was formed inside the country to oppose the Wagnerites. But these are the same prisoners who haven't been recruited yet by the Wagner PMC. They just signed an official contract with the Russian army," Zhorin said in an interview with Radio NV on May 23.
Storm troops as well as Wagner mercenaries suffer great losses from Ukraine's 72nd and 57th brigades in and around Bakhmut.
It became known in summer 2022 that Wagner PMC recruited prisoners to participate in the war against Ukraine. In October, Vazhnye Istori wrote that the Russian Defense Ministry was also involved in recruitment.
Wagner PMC mercenaries are often used as "cannon fodder" in Russian attacks in the Battle of Bakhmut. Some were sent to the front line to dig trenches without even weapons, reports said.
Wagner Group had recruited 38,244 prisoners to use in Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine, Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said in mid-January, adding that 29,543 had already been killed, captured, injured, or had gone missing in action.
Read also: A Tricky Game for the Kremlin? Now it is Clear what Putin is Doing — opinion
Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin announced in February that he stopped recruiting Russian prisoners.
That Wagner Group may run out of mercenaries in two months, if Russia doesn't change its military tactics.
The Wagner Group could run out of mercenaries in two months if Russia doesn’t change its military tactics, said Serhiy Cherevatyi, an Eastern Operational Command representative from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on May 11.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has started recruiting Russian prisoners itself for use in its war against Ukraine. Up to 10,000 convicts were recruited in April alone.
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