Russian soldiers recruited into Moscow's penal units have criticized their "mistreatment" by military and medical officials on the front lines of the Ukraine war, according to a new report.
Russian soldiers inducted into the army's "Storm Z" units, largely made up of convicts, are marginalized by Russian medical professionals and commanders in the field, a serving member of the "Storm Z" forces told Russian independent news outlet, Verstka, in a piece published on Thursday.
Reports of "Storm Z" units fortifying Russia's military emerged in early April 2023. The Washington D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) described the special companies as "outside of conventional army unit structure," but are "attached in some manner to existing Russian regiments and brigades."
The troops are integrated into Russia's Southern Military District's 8th Combined Arms Army, and into parts of the Russian-backed so-called Donetsk People's Republic's armed forces, the ISW said. But it is not clear just how these new units fit into the chain of command in Russia's military. They are deployed in urban environments or on operations to capture key targets in "complicated geographic areas," the think tank said.
These units will likely be sent to areas around Donetsk City and the nearby settlement of Avdiivka, the ISW said in early April.
On Saturday, Ukraine's National Resistance Center, which is linked to the Ukrainian government, said "Storm-Z" units had gathered in the Bryansk region, close to Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia.
In an updated assessment on Monday, the ISW said "Storm-Z" assault units had been sent to the area around Kupiansk.
These forces have "poor morale and discipline," the think tank reported, meaning they will not be very effective in the face of Ukrainian counteroffensive operations.
Speaking to Verstka, one "Storm Z" fighter said the treatment of the convict units in a hospital in Russian-controlled Sevastopol, Crimea, was "disgusting," saying medical staff had been careful to "keep their distance from us [and] are rude to us."
"Storm Z" fighters would receive "no decent treatment, no insurance payments, no medicals," the soldier said, accusing the Russian Defense Ministry of directly ordering this type of behavior.
"They talk to us like we are nothing," he added.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email on Thursday.
Convicts from Russian jails have been the target for recruitment campaigns run by the Wagner Group of mercenaries, known for their high-profile presence in Ukraine and a public feud between its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and Russian military officials.
