{"id":2053549,"date":"2023-10-03T10:01:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T14:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/theyre-just-meat-how-russia-uses-units-of-disposable-convicts-to-wage-war-on-ukraine\/"},"modified":"2023-10-03T10:05:05","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T14:05:05","slug":"theyre-just-meat-how-russia-uses-units-of-disposable-convicts-to-wage-war-on-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/theyre-just-meat-how-russia-uses-units-of-disposable-convicts-to-wage-war-on-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia employs disposable convict units to wage war on Ukraine."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftheyre-just-meat-how-russia-uses-units-of-disposable-convicts-to-wage-war-on-ukraine%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2053549&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Russian \u200dPenal \u200dUnits Sent to Frontlines in Ukraine<\/h2>\n<p>Drunk recruits. Insubordinate soldiers. Convicts. These are just some of the individuals who\u200b have been pressed into Russian penal units known as &#8220;Storm-Z&#8221; squads and sent\u200c to the frontlines in Ukraine this year,\u200d according to multiple \u2062sources\u200c with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cheney-says-she-wont-step-down-after-state-party-censures-her-calls-for-resignation\/\" title=\"Cheney Says She Won\u2019t Step Down After State Party Censures Her, Calls For Resignation\">direct knowledge<\/a> of the matter.<\/p>\n<p>These squads, consisting of \u200bhundreds of military and civilian offenders, are embedded within regular army units \u2062and are often deployed to the most dangerous\u200d parts of \u2063the front. However, few survive to tell their \u200ctale.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Storm fighters, they&#8217;re just meat,&#8221; said one regular soldier \u2062who \u200bwitnessed the mistreatment\u200d of Storm-Z fighters\u2062 near the\u2063 city of Bakhmut. He described \u2062how these fighters were considered of lesser value than ordinary troops by\u2062 officers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The soldier, who spoke anonymously due to fear of prosecution, revealed that recruits \u200bwith the smell of \u2063alcohol \u200bon \u2062their breath\u200d were immediately sent \u200cto the Storm squads. This practice highlights the disregard for their lives.<\/p>\n<p>While the Russian defense ministry and the Kremlin declined to \u2062comment\u2064 on Storm-Z, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mi-judge-orders-dem-sec-of-state-to-release-all-communications-with-dominion-facebook-apple-amazon-and-google\/\" title=\"MI Judge Orders Dem Sec of State To Release All Communications With Dominion, Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google\">state-controlled media<\/a> has reported their\u2063 existence \u2062and their participation in \u2062intense battles. However, the formation and losses of these squads\u2064 have not been\u200b disclosed.<\/p>\n<p>Reuters is the first news organization to\u2063 compile a comprehensive account of how the squads are put together and deployed, speaking \u200bto multiple sources with direct knowledge of the\u2063 matter.<\/p>\n<h3>From\u2062 Custody to Carnage<\/h3>\n<p>Storm-Z is an\u200c unofficial term used by Russian troops, \u2063combining a term\u2064 for assault troops with\u200b the letter Z, symbolizing their invasion of \u2062Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>One\u2062 example is Artyom Shchikin, \u2063a convict serving a\u2063 two-year sentence\u200c for robbery. \u2062He\u200b volunteered to\u2062 fight in Ukraine to wipe clean his\u2064 criminal record\u200b and earn \u2064money for \u2062his family. By May, he was assigned to \u2062a penal unit within the 291st Guards Motorised Rifle Regiment and deployed to the Zaporizhzhia region.<\/p>\n<p>Shchikin&#8217;s \u200drelatives last\u2063 heard \u200cfrom him on June 18. Days later, his unit came under \u200cUkrainian fire,\u2064 resulting in casualties and Shchikin&#8217;s \u2063disappearance. The defense ministry has provided no definitive answers \u2063about \u2064his fate.<\/p>\n<h3>Drunk on\u200c Duty, Using\u200d Drugs<\/h3>\n<p>In addition\u200b to convicts, \u2062some regular soldiers have been assigned to the penal squads as punishment for disciplinary \u200dbreaches. Officers have sent soldiers to Storm-Z for \u200bbeing drunk \u200don duty, using drugs, or refusing to carry out orders.<\/p>\n<p>According to Russian legislation, a soldier can only be \u2062transferred to a penal unit if \u2062convicted\u200c by a military court. However, none\u200d of the sources mentioned any court hearings involved in such transfers.<\/p>\n<h3>Revolt of Storm-Z\u200c Fighters<\/h3>\n<p>A \u2062group of Storm-Z \u200cfighters in Zaporizhzhia refused to go back to the frontline and recorded \u2063a video expressing their grievances. They \u200bcomplained about \u200cthe lack of \u200csupplies, the neglect of the injured, and the dreadful orders they were given. After the video was published, the\u2064 fighters were beaten by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/coronavirus-chinese-city-offers-15640-for-clues-to-outbreaks-origin\/\" title=\"Coronavirus: Chinese City Offers ,640 for 'Clues' to Outbreak's Origin\">military police officers<\/a> as punishment.<\/p>\n<p>The relatives \u200bof these fighters \u2064stated\u2063 that conditions have improved since the incident, but it \u2064remains \u200buncertain\u200d when they will be allowed to\u2062 leave the \u200bmilitary.<\/p>\n<p>As the \u200bconflict continues, the families of \u2062these fighters anxiously await news from the\u2063 front, hoping for an end to the war.<\/p>\n<p>(Reporting by Polina \u200bNikolskaya and Maria Tsvetkova; editing by Christian Lowe and\u200b Pravin Char)<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> \u2063Why \u2063has there been a lack of\u2063 transparency\u200b regarding the formation \u2062and casualties \u2062of the Storm-Z units in Ukraine<\/h2>\n<p><span>  \u2063To refer to the penal units comprised of undesirable\u200b recruits sent \u200bto \u2062fight \u200don the frontlines in Ukraine. These \u2062recruits include drunkards, insubordinate soldiers, and convicts. As\u200d disturbing as it sounds, this\u2062 practice has been confirmed by multiple sources with inside information.<\/p>\n<p>The Storm-Z squads, which consist of hundreds\u200d of military and civilian offenders, are incorporated\u200c within regular army units and \u200bare often deployed\u2062 to the most hazardous areas of \u200b\u200bthe\u200c front. It is a grim reality that few of these individuals survive to\u200d share their stories.<\/p>\n<p>One witness, a regular soldier who preferred to remain anonymous out of fear of persecution, attested to the mistreatment he observed towards the Storm-Z fighters near the city \u2062of\u2063 Bakhmut.\u2063 According to him, these fighters\u200d were deemed\u200c of lesser value than their fellow soldiers by their officers. He bluntly described them as &#8220;meat,&#8221; highlighting the callousness with which \u2062their lives are \u2062regarded.<\/p>\n<p>The soldier\u200b further disclosed that\u2064 recruits detected with the smell of\u200b alcohol on their breath are immediately conscripted into the Storm-Z\u2063 squads. This practice reinforces the\u200d disregard for their\u2064 lives and signifies that their well-being is considered expendable.<\/p>\n<p>While both the Russian\u2062 defense ministry and the Kremlin \u2062declined to\u200c comment on the existence of Storm-Z units, state-controlled media \u2063has acknowledged their presence and \u2063their involvement in intense battles. Curiously,\u200c the formation and casualties of these units have not been publicly disclosed, leaving\u200d a shroud of secrecy around\u200c their operations.<\/p>\n<p>In a \u2064groundbreaking report, \u200bReuters is the first news organization to compile\u200c a comprehensive account of how the Storm-Z squads are assembled and\u2063 deployed. This compilation involved conversations with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/theyre-just-meat-how-russia-uses-units-of-disposable-convicts-to-wage-war-on-ukraine\/\" title=\"Russia employs disposable convict units to wage war on Ukraine.\">multiple sources possessing direct \u200dknowledge<\/a> of the subject matter.<\/p>\n<p>By\u200c shedding light on the plight of \u2064these penal\u2064 units, it becomes evident that \u200dthey are viewed as disposable \u200dassets, utilized for their expendability on the frontlines in\u200b Ukraine. Such\u200c disregard for human life is deeply concerning and antithetical to the principles of humanity and decency.<\/p>\n<p>As this report exposes the harsh \u2064reality \u200cfaced \u2063by the Storm-Z fighters, it is \u200bimperative\u200b that the international community takes notice and condemn the mistreatment \u2062and exploitation\u2062 of these individuals. Their \u2064lives matter, and their stories \u200cmust be heard, bringing attention to this egregious violation of human rights occurring on the frontlines in Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Drunk recruits, insubordinate soldiers, and convicts are part of the Russian penal units called &#8220;Storm-Z&#8221; squads sent to Ukraine&#8217;s frontlines this year. Out of those who know, including five fighters in the units, only a few survive to share their experiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":2053550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2053549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2053549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2053549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2053549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2053550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2053549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2053549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2053549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}