Storm-V

• 1. Introduction

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  Storm-V carries a name that seems almost deliberate in its irony. The V stands for "vityazi," the Russian word for knights. On the 24th of June 2023, Vladimir Putin signed a law creating these penal military units. The same legislation dissolved their predecessor in a single stroke. What awaited those who entered Storm-V proved far removed from any knightly code. The terms of service, the conditions of battle, and the fate of those who refused orders would take months to reach the outside world.

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• 2. Indefinite Terms

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  Before Storm-V existed, Storm-Z was built around a clear offer: a formal pardon after six months at the front. Storm-V removed that offer entirely. There was no pardon and no parole. Service would simply extend until the war ended, with no fixed release date. The men who entered under these terms were deployed to some of the conflict's most contested ground. They fought in the battle of Avdiivka and the battle of Chasiv Yar. Accounts from inside those units would surface in time.

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• 3. Twelve Days

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  Twelve days: that was how long a member of Storm-V reported his unit trained before reaching the frontline. His account, given to BBC News Russian, described soldiers directed into suicidal assault operations with little preparation. Those who declined to attack faced two outcomes: confinement in what were called "punishment pits," or execution. In one respect, however, Storm-V differed from the formations that preceded it. Soldiers received pay at the same rate as the regular Russian military, along with benefits and allowances. What life at the front actually looked like for the men inside those units would be described, in unsparing terms, to a newspaper in Finland.

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• 4. Wet Rags

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  In October 2024, the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat published an account from a Finnish-speaking Russian prisoner of war who had served in Storm-V. He had been captured by a Finnish soldier serving in the Karelian Group "NORD," a unit within the Russian Volunteer Corps. When asked how the Russian military had treated him, his answer was unsparing. He and his comrades had been "abandoned like wet rags left to dry on our own." The wounded, he said, were "laying around and dying." As for food, they had "probably eaten more sand here than regular food." He was Finnish-speaking, and so was the soldier who captured and interviewed him.

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