Additional leaked documents that surfaced in April confirmed that the new military units would be made up of pardoned Russian prisoners who would fight in Ukraine in exchange for their freedom and roughly $2,200 per month.
“Due to the ramshackle construction of yet more ad hoc Russian units, as well as the already degraded quality and poor morale that is pervasive within units in this area, it is unlikely that the use of these formations will lend Russian forces on this frontline a significant offensive edge,” one Ukrainian source said regarding the existence of the Storm Z units earlier this year.