Russian convict fighters share complaints on video: "We're not meat"

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Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel joined Newsweek in 2021 and had previously worked with news outlets including the Daily Express, The Times, Harper's BAZAAR, and Grazia. She has an M.A. in Newspaper Journalism at City, University of London, and a B.A. in Russian language at Queen Mary, University of London. Languages: English, Russian

You can get in touch with Isabel by emailing i.vanbrugen@newsweek.com or by following her on X @isabelvanbrugen

News Reporter

A video circulating on social media appears to show a group of Russian convicts-turned-fighters accusing the Kremlin of using them as cannon fodder in Ukraine.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, shared the two-minute clip on Twitter, saying it showed fighters from "Storm Z" units complaining to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu about their treatment.

Ukrainian intelligence said on June 15 that the Russian military was transferring the surviving convicts from Storm Z units to Russia's so-called volunteer corps. It said the Storm units had shown "extremely low combat effectiveness," adding that "alcoholism, looting, and desertion are flourishing" among the troops "due to catastrophic losses."

In the clip shared by Gerashchenko, six Storm Z fighters address Shoigu, saying they had previously released a video requesting help as the Ministry of Defense "is not fulfilling some of its promises."

"We are in a very difficult situation," one said. "After this video we began to be thrown into the most terrible assaults and locations."

Another fighter said his group was "the remnants of three platoons" who were thrown into an assault in Ukraine.

"There is no more. When we came from the assault we were asked: 'Are you still alive? If you're still alive, go back to the assault'," he added, complaining about a lack of equipment and support from the top brass.

"What does that mean? The commanders get us ahead with no help, no weapons, and crossfire. It is not clear what side to shoot at."

The first fighter spoke again, claiming that the Akhmat battalion of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov "come to their positions without fighting, just making videos about what great soldiers and tough guys they are."

"They are just laid-back there. We've already nicknamed them TikTok troops," he said.

The man added that the videos posted by the Akhmat battalion give away their location to Ukrainian forces.

"Their videos betray our positions. After they post them, our positions are poured with fire heavily. But most importantly, we are dying under that fire while they sit at home, getting medals and drinking tea," he said.

Another member of the unit said they were "thrown" into the war in Ukraine.

"Stop this madness. It's a nightmare. When will it stop? Look, it's all that's left. I guess until people run out," he said.

One said: "Listen to us—we've got kids who care about us and we're meat."

Another added: "We are not meat, we are human beings. Stop this bull****."

In March, Ukrainian news outlet Obozrevatel reported that a Storm assault company had addressed President Vladimir Putin directly in a video, complaining that they were not given proper supplies while being sent to trenches in Ukraine's Donetsk region.

Newsweek has not been able to verify the claims made by the fighters. We have reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email for comment.