CNN has published an investigation into the assault unit that formed the Russian Ministry of Defense during the war with Ukraine. It included Russian prisoners.
According to journalists, the unit received the number 08807 and was attached to the armed forces of the LPR invented by the Muscovites. Its fighters took part in the battles for Soledar in October 2022, where they suffered “catastrophic losses”.
One of the prisoners interviewed by journalists said that he was part of a group of 130 people. Of these, no more than 40 remained – the rest either died or were seriously injured.
In short, it’s a meat grinder,” the source told CNN.
He added that unit 08807 was later given a new number – 40321. It gained popularity as the assault squad “Storm”.
The fact that the unit was formed by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation was confirmed to journalists by two more prisoners. The founder of the Gulagu.net project, Vladimir Osechkin, in turn, said that the Russian military department could start recruiting prisoners, offering them more “favorable conditions” against the backdrop of the growing influence of the Wagner PKK, which actively recruited mercenaries from prisons to participate in the war. from Ukraine.
Andrei Yusov, a spokesman for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, said that some of the captured Russian prisoners said they were serving under a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry.
According to Yusov, prisoners are used at the front as “cannon fodder”. The CNN investigation confirms this. One of the journalists’ interlocutors said that the wounded were not provided with medical care and were returned to the front line with unhealed wounds.
Here [у лікарні] no one is being operated on. People walk around with bullet wounds, with debris in their legs,” he said.
Another prisoner stated that half of his unit died when other Russian soldiers opened fire on him. He claims that this was done on purpose.
I told our guys on the radio that they were firing mortars at us, that they should aim to the right. But they still continued to beat us from both sides. Then I realized that they were deliberately shooting at us.
The CNN investigation also refers to the alleged extrajudicial execution of one of the prisoners. Viktor Sevalnev, convicted of robbery and recruited by the Ministry of Defense, recorded a voice message from his hospital bed to his wife, in which he expressed fear that he might be shot.
Shortly thereafter, the prisoner’s wife was contacted by a representative of the armed forces of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic. He reported that her husband had died from fragmental wounds.
The fact that the Russian Ministry of Defense is recruiting Russian prisoners became known in the fall of 2022. Then the media wrote that the department was engaged in recruiting in colonies where former law enforcement officers are serving their sentences in order to form a special unit out of people with certain skills and experience. It was reported that it would be called “Storm”.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.