'They're just meat': Russia deploys punishment battalions in echo of Stalin

Fighters from a Storm-Z squad explain why they will no longer fight in Ukraine'They're just meat': Russia deploys punishment battalions in echo of Stalin Fighters from a Storm-Z squad explain why they will no longer fight in UkraineLONDON, Oct 3 (Reuters) -Drunk recruits. "Storm fighters, they're just meat," said one regular soldier from army unit no. Three of the five Storm-Z fighters interviewed by Reuters, and the relatives of three other Storm-Z fighters, described nightmarish engagements that saw much of their squads wiped out. At a televised meeting with a small group of regular Russian servicemen, he said he was aware that two of their comrades, former prison inmates, had been killed in action. Three Storm-Z fighters said they were offered wages of about 200,000 roubles ($2,000) per month, though said they had been paid roughly half that amount, on average.