Relatives of missing Russian soldiers in Ukraine post daily requests on social media for their search. In these messages, relatives mention not only the names of the missing but also their tag numbers. «Important Stories» analyzed thousands of such posts and found that about 30,000 people could have been recruited into the «Storm Z» units from the colonies.
The Russian Ministry of Defense launched this project in February 2023, taking over the recruitment of prisoners for the war from Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Wagner PMC. Like the Wagner fighters, initially, the Ministry of Defense's stormtroopers received pardons and returned home from the front after six months of service.
By September, recruitment into «Storm Z» had ended, after which all contracts for new waves of the «special contingent» became indefinite.
In the first six months, representatives of the Ministry of Defense visited at least 108 colonies, the publication calculated. In most FSIN institutions, Wagner PMC recruiters had already been present, but in 19 colonies, recruitment into the Russian Armed Forces likely occurred for the first time. Thus, the Ministry of Defense recruited volunteers in IK-6 Kolomna and LIU-10 Novosibirsk (where prisoners with active tuberculosis are held), although Prigozhin's recruiters did not go there.
About 28.2–29 thousand prisoners were recruited into «Storm Z». Since the data does not include servicemen from the first wave of recruitment from late February to April 2023, the total number may exceed 30,000 people.
Former prisoners from the «Storm Z» units are not entitled to insurance payments for injury or death, nor combat veteran certificates, and their monetary allowance could be several times less than that of mobilized and contract soldiers.
* Recognized in Russia as a «foreign agent» and «undesirable» organization.