Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Two videos have been published from Russian former convicts who signed contracts to fight in Ukraine as part of a 'Storm Z' assault unit. They provide an insight into the units which have been used by the Russians to carry out so-called 'meat assaults'. ⬇️

2/ The men were selected for a special detachment, known as the 'blacks' for their all-black outfits worn for night missions. They were entirely wiped out within only six weeks of the contracts being signed. Their story is told in the thread below:

https://twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1714378156952486240

3/ On 7 April 2023, shortly before the men were sent into the 'meat grinder' near Svatove in eastern Ukraine, several of them recorded videos giving their accounts as an apparent testimony to their relatives in case they were killed. They were subsequently listed as missing.

4/ By this time, the men had realised that (in the words of another member of the detachment) they were "absolutely fucked". They were serving in secret, without documentation, pay or ID tags, and say in the video that they are "like shadows".

5/ This has been a typical story for many Russian convict fighters, who have been termed "ghost soldiers" for the way the authorities have concealed their existence, covered up their deaths and refused to compensate their relatives.

https://twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1681212438639702017

6/ At this time, the men were holed up in an abandoned house in a ruined Ukrainian village near the front line. In the first video, Yuri Yakovlev (call sign “Khoroshiy”), a former inmate of the IK-4 Fornosovo penal colony, says:

7/ "We were trained at the firing range in the city of Dokuchayevsk for a month. Then we were separated from the general group, as I have already said, and sent to the slaughter. There was no command to storm any buildings.

8/ "The instructions were given by this Misha in Donbass [a Russian milblogger, pictured below], here we have a so-called old man [commander], surname, first name, patronymic, who commands in the Avdiivka direction. We don't know anything. We have no documents, no dog tags.

9/ "For what reason, I don't know. But we guess that some temporary military IDs were brought to us. At the very beginning we signed in them and then they were taken away under the pretext that [new ones?] were being printed.

10/ "Although, in principle, we are all servicemen, we have served compulsory military service before, we have our own military IDs. There are guys here with my colony, with my colony and from other colonies.

11/ "Now they will also give a short interview in this same video, just to be on the safe side too.

12/ "[The Russian Ministry of Defence] will not say that we are all together, so that just in case something happens and we are left on the battlefield, our parents could at least get some compensation..."

13/ He hands over to another man, Anton Olegovich from the Kemerovo region, who says:

"Here, please, look at where we are in the fighting. All the houses have been destroyed, there is nothing left alive here. Here we are in a very unclear situation and we don't know what to do.

14/ "We are very worried not only for our lives, but that our relatives will not receive a penny for our lives. It's just some bigwigs with big epaulettes. We really don't want that to happen. That's why we really want you to hear us, to help us.

15/ "At least not us, at least our parents. If within a month it is not favourable, if we do not get in touch within a month within two months, then it means that we are no longer alive.

16/ "And so we would very much like you to take some action and at least let them pay our relatives, our children, our close ones. Thank you."

17/ Yakovlev adds: "Because here it's usually done like this on the field. People stay on the battlefield, so there's no payout. They can say you are either in captivity or something else. Relatives, accordingly, receive nothing, so that there are no misunderstandings.

18/ "Because, let's be honest. Let's tell you honestly, we have just been thrown here, if you don't listen objectively, it is unlikely that we will live till 27 April, till 20 August. That's why we're recording all these videos."

19/ A third man, Alexander Simkin from the Pskov region, says: "This is where I am in my position. Tomorrow will be Saturday, it will be three weeks. I have been on the front line all these three weeks.

20/ "On the first day we were hit with mortars from three groups that came in with me. We were supposed to storm point 024. There were at best 10–15 men who survived, who are currently in position at this point.

21/ "We were simply shot down like cannon fodder with mortars, and no artillery supported us. Almost all of my comrades died. What am I doing there? I keep telling you, they send us to attack a tank with an automatic rifle.

22/ "In these three weeks, one might say, I was born again, three times. A mine came towards me twice, and once they fired at me from a tank. In all cases there were 200 [killed] and 300 [wounded], and I escaped with only two minor concussions."

23/ Yakovlev concludes by highlighting the way that the Storm Z men have been effectively erased from existence by the Russian authorities:

"And the most important thing I forgot to tell you is that our relatives contacted the military commission.

24/ "For some reason we are in the zone of a special military operation. We didn't go through the military enlistment office at all. We were promised some cards to which money was to be transferred. None of this was fulfilled. We were only paid 40,000 rubles ($410).

25/ "At first, it was just an advance. Signed on some phony paper... There's no current account on Gosuslugi [the Russian state public services portal]. The mum of one of our comrades called the prison, where he sat for 12 years. They told him that he had never been there at all.

26/ "So we are not here at all, we are like shadows, you know? So that's why we're just asking for help. But family, friends, media, I don't know. And all these videos were released so that, well, even if we die, God forbid, it'll help the guys who will come here next time." /end

Source:
severreal.org/a/minoborony-z…