A regular Russian contract soldier is entitled to a payment of 3 million rubles for a severe injury sustained in war. A former prisoner, fighting as part of a "Storm Z" assault unit, might receive between 50,000 and 300,000 rubles for the same injury — if they receive anything at all.

The key to this disparity lies not in an order or a presidential decree, but in the wording of a single document that former prisoners sign before being sent to the front.

What is "Storm Z"?

The "Storm Z" assault units were initially formed from former prisoners who had previously worked in law enforcement agencies. However, since spring 2023, they have effectively transformed into penal units, where convicts recruited directly from prisons, as well as military personnel facing disciplinary action, are massively deployed.

Recruitment is based on a simple promise: sign a contract, and you will receive a pardon, your criminal record will be expunged, and after an injury or concussion, you will receive the same payments as regular military personnel.

An Agreement, Not a Contract

In January 2024, the publication Vazhnye Istorii obtained the text of a collective appeal from former prisoners to President Vladimir Putin — the authenticity of the document was confirmed to the publication by one of the signatories. The appeal explains why payments are not being received.

According to them, during recruitment, they signed not a full-fledged contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense, but an agreement to participate in volunteer formations — and not with the Russian military department, but with the self-proclaimed "DPR". Formally, this means that the payments due to Ministry of Defense servicemen for injuries — those very 3 million rubles — do not apply to former prisoners.

Considering where we ended up and what tasks we performed, I can honestly say that I wouldn't have gone there purely for a pardon.

Authorities respond formally to these appeals: presidential decrees on payments to military personnel do not apply to former prisoners, because the agreement they signed is legally different.

The Criminal Record They Forgot to Expunge

The second part of the promise — the expungement of criminal records — is also not always fulfilled, nor is it automatic. Former "Storm Z" fighters complain that pardon documents are processed with delays or not at all, leaving individuals officially convicted even after fighting on the front lines and sustaining injuries.

Stories of Specific Individuals

The Volgograd publication V1.ru regularly publishes stories of specific "Storm Z" fighters from the region: a wounded fighter left without payments or a passport; the prosecutor's office asked to investigate compensation delays; the funeral of Ruslan Chelidze, who died on the line of contact on October 1, which his family could only attend long after his death.

These are not isolated stories from a single region: similar appeals and complaints regularly surface in various constituent entities of the federation — it's just that not all of them reach the independent press.

How Many Have Actually Died

According to joint calculations by the BBC Russian Service and Mediazona, by May 1, 2026, Russia's confirmed losses in this war exceeded 216,205 people. Of these, over 24,000 are prisoners recruited from penal colonies. For comparison: the confirmed deaths of volunteers amount to approximately 80,000 people, contract soldiers — over 40,000, and mobilized personnel — around 19,000.

Previously, as of August 2025, the names of 18,122 deceased prisoners were found in open sources — 14.5% of all established losses of the Russian army. Researchers note: the proportion of prisoners among the dead is gradually decreasing — but not because they are sent on assaults less frequently, but because investigators and lawyers in Russia are now obliged to remind defendants that signing a contract with the army does not automatically exempt them from criminal punishment — this has slightly reduced the flow of recruits from pre-trial detention centers.

By June 5, 2026, the total confirmed death toll reached 225,019 people, and by July 17, 2026 — already over 233,000 by name. Researchers explicitly state: the actual number of deceased may be significantly higher than confirmed — the database is built on obituaries, cemetery photographs, war memorials, and open state registries, not on full access to military statistics.

In Conclusion

The "Storm Z" recruitment system can be summarized in one phrase: the state offers prisoners to exchange their remaining sentence for a life on the front lines, and when it comes to paying for this deal — injuries, mutilations, death — it turns out that the document they signed was not quite the one that grants the right to compensation.

Over 24,000 such individuals are already confirmed dead. How many of them or their families received the promised payments and expunged criminal records, no one counts — because officially, they were seemingly not quite military personnel.