1/ Some Russian convicts fighting in Ukraine have been formed into a special forces unit called Storm Gladiator. Although it brings together the best fighters from Storm Z and Storm V units, Storm Gladiator is nonetheless reported to have a survival rate of under 40 percent. 
2/ Storm Gladiator was reportedly created in September 2022 as Storm Z's "special forces squad". It got its name a year later in honour of the sacked Major General Ivan Popov of the 58th Combined Arms Army, who uses the call sign "Spartak" (Spartacus).
3/ Popov acknowledged them in his farewell message in July 2023 when he greeted "my beloved gladiators". A letter sent by the unit's commander describes it as a "separate special purpose battalion", and other documents call it a “OBSN” (separate special forces battalion).
4/ The use of the term "battalion" indicates that it is quite a large formation, comprising several companies, which would suggest between 300-1,000 men. According to people familiar with the unit, it has a fairly strict set of requirements for recruitment.
5/ An ex-Storm Gladiator member says: “Initially [after signing the contract], we [the prisoners] were trained by Storm Z, and then they came to us and took us to the Gladiator unit. We were all there [in the same prison colony]”.
6/ A Gladiator recruit has to be “in good physical shape”, with law enforcement or military experience, and preferably past combat experience, such as from the Chechen wars.
7/ The recruits are mostly unmarried as they are used, in one relative's euphemistic description, to "work on “heavy” objects". This appears to mean carrying out assaults in places deemed too difficult for regular, relatively poorly trained Storm Z/V members.
8/ Their role is described by ex-Storm Z fighter Daniil Tulenkov: "The main work was carried out by our neighbors, colleagues and just comrades – “Storm Gladiator”. This is also [part of] “Storm Z”, they are also assigned to our regiment, but they are managed as a separate unit.
9/ "In principle the “Gladiators” are the main striking force. Our unit is a bit leaner in terms of combat, figuratively speaking, we are like a leopard and a lynx.
10/ "That is why our combat missions alternate with evacuation, transport and logistic tasks, and they are just fierce stormtroopers."
11/ Storm Gladiator members are paid the same as other Storm Z soldiers and have the same problems with receiving pay, getting benefits or being evacuated from the battlefield. They also have low survival rates due to their frequent use in so-called "meat assaults".
12/ According to one Storm Gladiator member, after three months of intense fighting, fewer than 40% of the total number of fighters in his company had survived, not counting the missing and prisoners. As Gladiator 'erodes', its surviving members are being reassigned elsewhere.
13/ Storm Gladiator appears to be led by Aslan Fuadovich Shurdumov, a convicted murderer from Kabardino-Balkaria. He was serving 10 years in prison when he was recruited and is now reportedly commanding the battalion with the rank of colonel.
14/ The unit's chief of staff is reported to be a lawyer with a military background named Vladislav Olensky, who was sentenced to 12 years for bribery in 2019. He graduated from the Penza Higher Artillery Engineering School (PVAIU) with the rank of lieutenant and is now a major.
15/ Storm Gladiator is possibly commanded from a headquarters in the Chechen city of Shali, at a base operated by the 58th's Army's 70th Guards Motorised Rifle Regiment. Many Gladiator fighters are reportedly assigned to this regiment and trained by Wagner or Chechen soldiers.
16/ However, the unit has already experienced one major scandal. In September 2023, two Gladiator soldiers were found shot dead at a bus stop in an occupied village in southern Ukraine. The alleged killers were the commander of a Storm Gladiator company and his deputy.
17/ It was reported that the killings were literally a falling-out among thieves. The four men are said to have been stealing from 'humanitarian relief' funds provided by fellow prisoners and the Russian public, but argued violently about how to split the loot.
18/ The alleged killers, 38-year-old Alexander Ostashkov and 29-year-old Magomed Magomedov, were reportedly only arrested "performatively" and were expected to be punished by being sent to the front line for a likely death. /end
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