Russians trying to attack Kupyansk direction with ‘Storm-Z’ groups

Yuriy Fedorenko, commander of the Achilles combat UAV company of the 92nd Ivan Sirko Separate Mechanized Brigade, said this during the United News nationwide telethon.

"In Kupyansk direction, the enemy has been trying to move forward for the last two weeks, concentrating forces and means, using the so-called ‘Storm-Z’ groups. These are people who were imprisoned in the territory of the Russian Federation or were about to receive sentences, they are used as forces for advanced assaults. They are the ones who move through minefields. And their task is to get as close as possible to the defense forces. Accordingly, such servicemen are not taken away if they are injured and are not counted in general, the Russian Federation has this resource in abundance," Fedorenko said.

He noted that the tactics of using this human resource are similar to that used in Bakhmut section half a year ago.

"But we manage to detect the enemy's forces in advance due to the powerful work of the 92nd Brigade command, intelligence agents. Part of the enemy's personnel and equipment is eliminated in the areas of concentration, and the rest is finished off by our steel infantry in the trenches. Moreover, they [infantry] not only repel the enemy's attacks, which occur periodically, but move forward during such attacks and take up more advantageous positions," Fedorenko said.

He noted that "Storm-Z" groups act not in such a coordinated manner as Wagner fighters do.

"However, the Russian occupation forces and their special services try to do everything possible and impossible so that this system of coercion, like that of PMC Wagner, is implemented in ‘Storm-Z’ because they are fighting worse so far," Fedorenko said.

As reported, military operations continue in Kupyansk district, Kharkiv region, where 29 settlements remain temporarily occupied.