‘The Slaughter Of Ghosts’: How Russian Intelligence Recruited Prisoners For The War In Ukraine – Analysis

By Daniil Belovodyev and Systema

(RFE/RL) — The Russian military intelligence (GRU) oversaw the recruitment of prisoners into assault units known as “Storm Z.” It also funded the units and collected of information about casualties, RFE/RL’s Systema reports in its investigative documentary “The Slaughter Of Ghosts: How Russian Prisoners Fight In Ukraine.”

The project to recruit prisoners for the war in Ukraine began in the summer of 2022 — that’s when the private mercenary organization Wagner Group started enlisting inmates into its ranks.

But by February 2023, the Russian Defense Ministry had become the sole entity responsible for bringing convicts to the frontlines.

Part of the operational management of Storm Z was handled by units within Russia’s Southern Military District.

Two military units from the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army, along with the “Training and Deployment Center for Assault and Reinforcement Units,” were responsible for training the fighters and managing documentation, including financial records.

The center, which developed the tactics used by the convict assault units, was created within the Unified Group of Forces, which serves as the command hub for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

It was initially led by General Sergey Surovikin and is now headed by the Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

Another command center for Storm Z is the GRU.

Systema has obtained documents indicating that the contracts signed by prisoners carry a special classification of secrecy and are stored in a special GRU archive.

Information about deceased prisoners is sent by the leadership of the aforementioned 8th Army via secure mail to the intelligence office — the Main Directorate of the General Staff (GU GS, the modern designation for the GRU).

“Financial support and the processing of various payments to volunteers of the [Z] assault company are entrusted to the Moscow-based military unit 45807,” one of the documents, signed by Colonel Sergey Ivanov of the 8th Army, states.

The address of this military unit is also given: Moscow, Khoroshevskoye Highway, 76b. This is the same address as the headquarters of the GRU, and the commander of Unit 45807 is Igor Kostyukov, the head of the GRU.

The Storm Z project was officially launched by an order from the Chief of the General Staff on February 24, 2023, according to the Systema’s documentary.

At the same time, the Ministry of Defense and the GRU merged various disparate mercenary formations into a single structure — the Volunteer Corps.

This corps included units where fighters served under the status of so-called “volunteers,” such as some BARS units (“Combat Army Reserve of the Country”) and about a dozen detachments from the “Redut” private mercenary company.

Former prisoners from Storm Z fought in Ukraine under the same “volunteer” status, after signing “volunteer” contracts. The contracts had several restrictions: for example, the prisoners could not terminate their contracts at will, received lower salaries, and had fewer benefits.

In February 2023, the GRU secured its role as the overseer of virtually all “volunteer” units, and Storm Z, apparently, was no exception.

• Daniil Belovodyev is a reporter for Systema, RFE/RL’s Russian Investigative Unit. He reports on cybercriminals and hackers associated with the Russian intelligence services, Kremlin propaganda, and investigations of the Defense Ministry. He joined RFE/RL in 2022.
• Systema is RFE/RL’s Russian-language investigative unit, launched in 2023. The team conducts in-depth investigative journalism, producing high-profile reports and videos in Russian.