Territorial defence battalions (Ukraine)

Donbas Battalion training group near Kiev, 2 June 2014

Territorial defence battalions (Ukrainian: Батальйо́ни територіа́льної оборо́ни) are volunteer military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine under the command of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence in 2014–2015. The battalions established themselves in mid-2014, during the early stages of the War in Donbass, to combat the stealth invasion by Russian Armed Forces^[1][2][3] and the forces of the Donetsk People's Republic, Luhansk People's Republic, and the United Armed Forces of Novorossiya. 32 volunteer territorial defence battalions have been formed.

History

In March 2014 acting President of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov issued an order to create seven territorial defence battalions.

• 17 March 2014 Ukraine began first stage of mobilization
• 18 March 2014 - 3rd Territorial Defence Battalion was created in Lviv oblast^[4]
• 19 March 2014 - the Defence Regiment was created in Dnipropetrovsk^[5] (later, the regiment was reformed into two territorial defence battalions)^[6]
• 6th Territorial Defence Battalion was created in Ternopil oblast^[7]
• 9th Territorial Defence Battalion was created in Vinnytsia oblast
• 12 April 2014^[8] - 10th Territorial Defence Battalion was created in Zhytomyr oblast^[9]
• 23 April 2014 - 13th Territorial Defence Battalion was created in Chernihiv oblast^[10]
• 24 April 2014 - 15th Territorial Defence Battalion was created in Sumy oblast^[11]
• 17th Territorial Defence Battalion was created in Kirovohrad oblast
• 26 April 2014 - 22nd Territorial Defence Battalion "Kharkiv" was created in Kharkiv oblast^[12]
• 30 April 2014 Oleksandr Turchynov issued an order to create 27 territorial defence battalions^[13]

Since 30 April 2014 all territorial defence battalions have been part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and fall under the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the governors of the oblasts (provinces) in which they were created.^[14] By law, every oblast in Ukraine should create its own territorial defence battalions.^[15]

• 6 May 2014 Ukraine began a second stage of mobilization.^[16]
• 19th Territorial Defence Battalion was created in Mykolaiv. The unit was first used in the Mykolaiv area setting up roadblocks to slow separatist entry into the region, however by July it had been deployed to Donbass in order to take a more active role in the ongoing War in Donbas aiding other volunteer battalions as well as the Armed Forces of Ukraine.^[17]
• 21st Territorial Defence Battalion was created in Kherson oblast
• 24th Territorial Defence Battalion "Aidar" was created in Luhansk oblast
• 25th Territorial Defence Battalion "Kyivska Rus" was created in Kiev oblast
• 34th Territorial Defence Battalion "Batkivshchyna" was created in Kirovohrad oblast. The battalion was named after (and funded by) the political party with the same name as part of its "Resistance movement".^[18]
• 22 July 2014 Ukraine began third stage of mobilisation^[19]
• 37th Territorial Defence Battalion was formed between 29 August 2014^[20] and 8 September 2014 in Zaporizhia Oblast. According to Zaporizhia Oblast Governor Valeriy Baranov the battalion will be the first of its kind to receive tanks.^[21]
• 40th Territorial Defence Battalion "Kryvbas" was formed in Dnipropetrovsk oblast
• 41st Territorial Defence Battalion was formed in Chernihiv oblast
• 42nd Territorial Defence Battalion was formed in Kirovohrad oblast

During the opening stages of the war in Eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military and police forces were largely ineffective in separatist areas, often surrendering equipment or being overwhelmed in cities by large crowds of civilians. Federalist and pro-Russian insurgents quickly gained large swaths of territory. Ukraine also lost control of the Ukrainian-Russian border and this allowed time for a large inflow of insurgents and military supplies from Russia.

Due to this ineffectiveness, in May 2014^[15] volunteer militias began to form in order to combat the separatist insurgency. These groups designated themselves as territorial defence battalions and generally took their name from wherever most of their recruits were from.

Most of the volunteer battalions fall under the official command of the Interior Ministry or the Ministry of Defence. However most are largely autonomous, some receiving funding from various donors.^[22] By August 2014 over 5,600 volunteers had joined defence battalions across Ukraine and about 7,000 volunteers had joined by the end of September.^[23][24]

The Russian Communist Party has pushed to label the battalions as terrorist organizations, even though they are directly subordinate to the Government of Ukraine and are legal government agencies of Ukraine.^[25] Russian politicians have not pushed for declaring pro=Russian insurgents fighting in Ukraine as terrorists.

In the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election several members of the battalions were elected into the Ukrainian parliament.^[26][27]

On 10 November 2014 Stepan Poltorak, the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, ordered all 37 volunteer battalions to be integrated into Ukraine's regular forces, thus they were officially inducted into the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Minister of Internal Affairs and National Guard of Ukraine as National Guard battalions.^[28][29]

Foreign fighters mainly from Belarus, Georgia and Russia (about 100 men from each country) have joined the volunteer battalions.^[30] They were joined by fighters from the United States, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Georgia, Poland, Spain, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Croatia, Italy and Canada.^[30]

By late 2014 the number of battalions raised had grown over 50, including those now under National Guard command.^[31]

According to Interior Minster Avakov, by mid-April 2016 205 service personnel of the defence battalions had been killed in action, National Guardsmen included.^[32]

Legal status

The battalions that fall under the command of the Interior Ministry are technically part of the National Guard of Ukraine and are attached to units of the National Guard.^[15] The Donbas Battalion has a special status as a battalion for operation purposes, and its servicemen are part of the military reserve of the National Guard.^[15]

Difference from other special forces units of Ukraine

The various territorial defence battalions are not to be confused with the units such as "Omega", "Jaguar", or "Bars" which are special forces units of Ukraine. While the aforementioned units are all regular forces of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine, territorial defence battalions formed from various volunteers who wished to resist Russian occupation of Ukraine, volunteers weren't required to have prior military training to join and therefore at the beginning of the conflict they had minimal time to train and equip themselves. Battalions were also not armed with armour or tanks at the start of the conflict, however some have units managed to capture and repair heavy equipment from enemy units.^[33]

Foreign fighters

Foreign fighters from Belarus and Russia have asked for Ukrainian citizenship fearing persecution at home.^[30] The Ukrainian parliament passed laws to simplify this for them.^[30] Nevertheless, foreign fighters from Belarus and Russia have complained that gaining this citizenship took too long.^[30]

Equipment

The battalions receive basic resources and weapons from the Interior Ministry or the Ministry of Defence.^[15] These resources soon proved to be inadequate and numerous groups have helped to equip the battalions.^[15] The best known volunteer groups are Self-defence of Maidan, which has its own warehouses in Melitopol, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv, and Army SOS, an initiative of former Euromaidan activists. Volunteers provide things like: hygiene items, food, sleeping bags, night vision goggles and multicopters (for use as drones).^[15]

List of territorial defence battalions (MoD)

• 1st Territorial Defence Battalion "Volyn" (Volyn oblast)
• 2nd Territorial Defence Battalion "Horyn" (Rivne Oblast)
• 3rd Territorial Defence Battalion "Volya" (Lviv oblast)
• 4th Territorial Defence Battalion "Zakarpattia" (Zakarpattia oblast)
• 5th Territorial Defence Battalion "Prykarpattya" (Ivano-Frankivsk oblast, disbanded in January 2015)^[34]
• 6th Territorial Defence Battalion "Zbruch" (Ternopil oblast)
• 7th Territorial Defence Battalion (Khmelnytskyi Oblast)^[35]
• 8th Territorial Defence Battalion (Chernivtsi Oblast)
• 9th Territorial Defence Battalion (Vinnytsia oblast)
• 10th Territorial Defence Battalion (Zhytomyr oblast)
• 11th Territorial Defence Battalion "Kievan Rus" (Kiev oblast)
• 12th Territorial Defence Battalion (Kiev)
• 13th Territorial Defence Battalion "Chernihiv-1" (Chernihiv oblast)
• 14th Territorial Defence Battalion (Cherkasy Oblast)
• 15th Territorial Defence Battalion (Sumy oblast)
• 16th Territorial Defence Battalion (Poltava oblast)
• 17th Territorial Defence Battalion (Kirovohrad oblast)
• 18th Territorial Defence Battalion (Odessa oblast)
• 19th Territorial Defence Battalion (Mykolaiv Oblast)
• 20th Territorial Defence Battalion (Dnipropetrovsk oblast)
• 21st Territorial Defence Battalion "Sarmat" (Kherson oblast)
• 22nd Territorial Defence Battalion "Kharkiv" (Kharkiv oblast)
• 23rd Territorial Defence Battalion "Khortytsya" (Zaporizhia oblast)
• 24th Territorial Defence Battalion "Aidar" (Luhansk oblast)
• 25th Territorial Defence Battalion "Kyivska Rus" (Kiev oblast)
• 34th Territorial Defence Battalion "Batkivshchyna" (Kirovohrad oblast)
• 37th Territorial Defence Battalion (Zaporizhia oblast)
• 39th Territorial Defence Battalion "Dnipro-2" (Dnipropetrovsk oblast)
• 40th Territorial Defence Battalion "Kryvbas" (Dnipropetrovsk oblast)
• 41st Territorial Defence Battalion "Chernihiv-2" (Chernihiv oblast)
• 42nd Territorial Defence Battalion (Kirovohrad oblast)
• 43rd Territorial Defence Battalion (Dnipropetrovsk oblast)

Prykarpattya Battalion

The 5th Territorial Defence Battalion "Prykarpattya" subordinated to the Ministry of Defence.

An all volunteer unit largely composed of members from the Transcarpathian region of Ukraine and cities of Ivano-Frankivsk and Uzhhorod numbering around 500 people. Unlike other volunteer battalions the unit's main mission is to keep peace in its home region and not anti-terror operations. The unit's main mission is to protect critical facilities, ensure communication, guard the state border, and assist public and military authorities in western Ukraine. Zakarpattia Oblast is the least populated region of Ukraine, therefore deploying troops away from the area would leave it understaffed, the battalion is meant to assist authorities while regular police and military troops are deployed.^[36]

The unit was eventually deployed to the War in Donbass and played an infamous role in the Battle of Ilovaisk. The battle began on 7 August 2014 and Ukraine's forces entered the city of Ilovaisk on 18 August 2014. The Prykarpattya Battalion did not take part in direct assault but was charged with holding the flank of the main component of Ukraine's troops. However, about 2,000 separatist reinforcements backed by Russian forces crossed from the Russian border to encircle Ukraine's troops in Ilvaisk. Almost all of the unit's 500 troops abandoned their post once they started coming under Russian fire leaving Russian forces free to encircle Ukrainian troops. Several soldiers later regrouped with other units, but it is reported that 326 soldiers of the battalion fled the war zone along with their equipment. The commanders of the battalion are facing treason and desertion charges in the aftermath of the incident.^[37]

Other volunteer battalions

Islamic battalions

According to New York Times, there are three volunteer Islamic battalions fighting for the Ukrainian side.^[38]

Dzhokhar Dudayev battalion

Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion, originally named "Chechen battalion", it was set up in March 2014. It was later named after Chechnya’s first president and insurgent leader Dzhokhar Dudayev and it is based in Novomoskovsk in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.^[39] As of late May 2015, the unit is in the process of being legalized as part of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry.^[39] Its Ukrainian members will join the Zoloti Borota Battalion, while its foreign members are expected to join army units under a bill enabling foreign fighters to get Ukrainian citizenship.^[39] Most of the members are ethnic Ukrainians, but there are also Chechens from European countries as well as from Chechnya and it also includes other Muslims like Azeris, Ingush and Tatars, as well as Georgians.^[39] The battalion "views the war as part of a broader struggle against Russian imperialism and the Kadyrov regime".^[40] The battalion specializes in subversion and countering the subversive groups.^[39]

Shah Mansur battalion

Another Chechen battalion, named after Shah Mansur, has been reported defending the front line near Mariupol in 2015.^[41] It was created by former Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion members.^[39]

Noman Çelebicihan Battalion

The Noman Çelebicihan Battalion is a battalion of Crimean Tatars based in Kherson region bordering Crimea.^[42] The battalion reportedly received assistance from Turkey.^[43]

Maidan Battalion

On 1 September 2014 NGOs involved in the Euromaidan-protests announced their intention to create its own territorial battalion subordinated to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.^[44] This announcement was made at a meeting of representatives of "Ukrainian Coordinating Council Maidan", that included representatives of Automaidan and Right Sector.^[44]

Early May 2014 a similar announcement was made.^[45]

Shakhtar Battalion

Formed from volunteers in the Donbass area the unit derives its name from the numerous mines in the area as well as the Donetsk area's football club. The unit had its oath taking ceremony on 8 July 2014 and began actively resisting Russian separatists in the area. The unit has approximately 700 members.^[46][47]

Battalion OUN

Battalion of "Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists" was operating in the area of Pisky, Donetsk.^[48]

Ukraine Battalion

References