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Aidar Battalion

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24th Separate Assault Battalion
(March 2015 – present)
24th Territorial Defence Battalion "Aidar"
(2014 – March 2015)[1]
Ukrainian: 24-й окремий штурмовий батальйон «Айдар»
24th Separate Assault Battalion SSI (with tab).svg
Battalion SSI
Founded2014 (2014)
Country Ukraine
AllegianceMinistry of Defense
Branch Ukrainian Ground Forces
RoleAssault unit
Size[2]
Part of53rd Mechanized Brigade.[3]
Motto(s)
  • З нами Бог
  • "God is With Us"
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Serhiy Melnychuk
Insignia
Subdued SSI24th Separate Assault Battalion SSI (with tab, subdued).svg

24th Separate Assault Battalion "Aidar", also known as the Aidar Battalion, is an assault battalion of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.

The unit took part in the war in Eastern Ukraine and had roughly 300-400 members in 2014. It was named after the Aidar River in the Luhansk region where it was initially deployed.[4][5] In 2014, Amnesty International reported that members of the Aidar Battalion had committed war crimes during the war in Donbas.[6] It was disbanded in 2015 and reconstituted as the 24th Separate Assault Battalion of the Ukrainian Army, before being absorbed into the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade in 2016. As of October 2018 the battalion lost 130 soldiers killed in action.[7] The Battalion's founder and former commander is Sergei Melnychuk [uk].

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History

Aidar Battalion in Luhansk region, 2 August 2014
Aidar Battalion in Luhansk region, 2 August 2014

Created in May 2014, Aidar was the first Territorial Defense Battalion of Ukraine - a volunteer military detachment subordinate to the Ministry of Defence.[8]

In the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, former Aidar commander Serhiy Melnychuk [uk][9] became a member of the Verkhovna Rada representing the Radical Party of Oleh Lyashko; he ranked third on the party's election list.[10][11] The commander of Aidar's second company, Ihor Lapin, was an MP for People's Front after winning a constituency seat in Lutsk in the same election.[12][13] Neither was reelected in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election (Melnychuk failed to win a seat in an electoral district in Novomoskovsk with 0.31% of the votes and Lapin was not high enough on the election list (placed 49th) of European Solidarity to get elected).[14][15]

On 8 August 2014 Ukraine's Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey stated that the battalion would be reorganised, would receive better equipment and would see more combat missions.[16] Melnychuk has described that order as "criminal", but has admitted that most of Aidar's soldiers had demobilized or come under official control by 2015.[17]

The battalion came to spotlight after several dozen of its members were killed in an ambush south of Shchastia after the announcement of the ceasefire on 6 September 2014.[18]

Late January and early February 2015 the battalion picketed several government buildings, which escalated into clashes.[1]

Aidar was formally disbanded on 2 March 2015 "to prevent illegal actions of some representatives of volunteer units" (according to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces).[1][19] After a "careful selection of soldiers", it was then reorganized as the 24th Separate Assault Battalion of the Ukrainian Army.[1] Lieutenant Colonel Yevhen Ptashnik was appointed as commander of the battalion.[1] The 24th Separate Assault Battalion was made part of the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade in January 2016.[20] Later it became a part of the 53rd Mechanized Brigade.[3]

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Ministry of Defence (Ukraine)

Ministry of Defence (Ukraine)

The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine is the ministry of the Ukrainian government that oversees national defence and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The head of the ministry is the Minister of Defence. The President of Ukraine is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election

2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election

Snap parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 26 October 2014 to elect members of the Verkhovna Rada. President Petro Poroshenko had pressed for early parliamentary elections since his victory in the presidential elections in May. The July breakup of the ruling coalition gave him the right to dissolve the parliament, so on 25 August 2014 he announced the early election.

Ihor Lapin

Ihor Lapin

Ihor Lapin is a Ukrainian lawyer and politician, who is a former (2014-2019) People's Deputy of Ukraine. During the War in Donbass he was commander of the 2nd assault squadron "West" of the 24th Battalion of Territorial Defense "Aidar" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, formed mainly from volunteers from Volyn Oblast. Before the war, he worked as a lawyer, and was a member of the Bar Qualification-Disciplinary Commission of Volyn Oblast. 

People's Front (Ukraine)

People's Front (Ukraine)

People's Front is a nationalist and conservative political party in Ukraine founded by Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Oleksandr Turchynov in 2014.

Lutsk

Lutsk

Lutsk is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Volyn Oblast (province) and the administrative center of the surrounding Lutsk Raion (district) within the oblast. Lutsk has a population of 215,986. Historically it was a cultural and religious center in Volhynia.

2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election

2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election

Snap elections to the Ukrainian parliament were held on 21 July 2019. Originally scheduled to be held at the end of October, these elections were brought forward after newly inaugurated President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dissolved parliament on 21 May 2019, during his inauguration. The election resulted in an outright majority, a novelty in Ukraine, for President Zelenskyy's Servant of the People party with 254 seats.

Novomoskovsk, Ukraine

Novomoskovsk, Ukraine

Novomoskovsk is a city and municipality in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (province) of Ukraine and the administrative center of Novomoskovsk Raion (district). As of January 2022 Novomoskovsk's population was approximately 69,855.

European Solidarity

European Solidarity

European Solidarity is a political party in Ukraine. It has its roots in a parliamentary group called Solidarity dating from 2000 and has existed since in various forms as a political outlet for Petro Poroshenko. The party with its then name Petro Poroshenko Bloc won 132 of the 423 contested seats in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, more than any other party.

List of Ministers of Defense (Ukraine)

List of Ministers of Defense (Ukraine)

The Minister of Defence of Ukraine is the head of the Ministry of Defence, which is in charge of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the second-largest military power in Europe after its Russian counterpart. The Minister of Defence is appointed by the President, but this has to be confirmed by a majority vote in the Verkhovna Rada. From 1 January 2019, Ukraine has had civilian control of the military by requiring that the Minister of Defence be a civilian, although they may have recently resigned from the military.

Shchastia

Shchastia

Shchastia is a city in the Shchastia Raion of the Luhansk Oblast (province) in Ukraine. Population: 11,411.

General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces

General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is the military staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is the central organ of the Armed Forces Administration and oversees operational management of the armed forces under the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.

53rd Mechanized Brigade (Ukraine)

53rd Mechanized Brigade (Ukraine)

The 53rd Separate Mechanized Brigade named after Volodymyr Monomakh is a brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. The brigade is subordinated to Operational Command East. It is deployed in Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.

Members and structure

The Aidar Battalion consisted of volunteers from Lviv, Chernihiv, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Crimea, Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Donetsk regions. It included a member of the Luhansk Oblast's legislature, a former mayor of Oleksandrivsk, and self-defense activists from the Euromaidan protests in Kyiv.[21] In June 2014, it had around 400 members.[22]

The battalion had several subdivisions:

  • Kholodnyi Yar
  • Company "West"
  • Afgan company
  • Volyn company
  • Autorota
  • Golden company
  • Gregory Makles Company

The Battalion has gained notoriety due to its members' far-right views. Two Swedish neo-Nazis from the Svenskarnas parti joined Aidar in 2013 and 2014 and made headlines in the Swedish and German media, since one of the Nazis was running for a local council in elections, and the same media heavily criticized the Nazi mercenaries.[23][24][25] According to Huseyn Aliyev, a political scientist at the University of Glasgow, by 2015 the battalion's radical right-wing ideology had "toned down", and the ideology of it along with other volunteer battalions in Ukraine was best described as "nationalist-patriotic".[26]

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Lviv

Lviv

Lviv is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the sixth-largest in Ukraine, with a population of 717,273 . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine. It was named in honour of Leo, the eldest son of Daniel, King of Ruthenia.

Chernihiv

Chernihiv

Chernihiv, also known as Chernigov, is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within the oblast. Chernihiv's population is 282,747.

Luhansk

Luhansk

Luhansk, also known as Lugansk, is a city in Ukraine, although currently it is occupied by Russia. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be 397,677 , making Luhansk the most populous city in the region and the 12th-largest in Ukraine. In 2001, nearly half of the population was ethnically Ukrainian, and 47% was ethnically Russian.

Kharkiv

Kharkiv

Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine. Located in the northeast of the country, it is the largest city of the historic Slobozhanshchyna region. Kharkiv is the administrative centre of Kharkiv Oblast and of the surrounding Kharkiv Raion. It has a population of 1,421,125.

Crimea

Crimea

Crimea is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukraine. To the east, the Crimean Bridge, constructed in 2018, spans the Strait of Kerch, linking the peninsula with Krasnodar Krai in Russia. The Arabat Spit, located to the northeast, is a narrow strip of land that separates the Syvash lagoons from the Sea of Azov. Across the Black Sea to the west lies Romania and to the south is Turkey. The largest city is Sevastopol. The region has a population of 2.4 million, and has been under Russian occupation since 2014.

Kyiv

Kyiv

Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2,952,301, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe.

Ivano-Frankivsk

Ivano-Frankivsk

Ivano-Frankivsk, formerly Stanyslaviv and Stanislav, is a city in western Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and Ivano-Frankivsk Raion. Ivano-Frankivsk hosts the administration of Ivano-Frankivsk urban hromada. Its population is 238,196.

Donetsk

Donetsk

Donetsk, formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka, Stalin and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast. The population was estimated at 901,645 in the city core, with over 2 million in the metropolitan area (2011). According to the 2001 census, Donetsk was the fifth-largest city in Ukraine.

Oleksandrivsk

Oleksandrivsk

Oleksandrivsk or Aleksandrovsk is a small city in Luhansk Municipality, Luhansk Oblast (region) of Ukraine. Population: 6,401.

Euromaidan

Euromaidan

Euromaidan, or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv. The protests were sparked by President Viktor Yanukovych's sudden decision not to sign the European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement, instead choosing closer ties to Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union. Ukraine's parliament had overwhelmingly approved of finalizing the Agreement with the EU, but Russia had put pressure on Ukraine to reject it. The scope of the protests widened, with calls for the resignation of Yanukovych and the Azarov government. Protesters opposed what they saw as widespread government corruption, abuse of power, human rights violations, and the influence of oligarchs. Transparency International named Yanukovych as the top example of corruption in the world. The violent dispersal of protesters on 30 November caused further anger. Euromaidan led to the 2014 Revolution of Dignity.

University of Glasgow

University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in 1451 [O.S. 1450], it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Along with the universities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and St Andrews, the university was part of the Scottish Enlightenment during the 18th century.

Allegations of human rights violations and war crimes

Aidar sleeve patch used in 2014
Aidar sleeve patch used in 2014

In July 2014, Russia began a criminal investigation of Aidar's commander, Serhiy Melnychuk, for "organizing the killing of civilians".[27] Its volunteer pilot, Nadiya Savchenko, was captured by pro-Russian separatists near Luhansk, transported to Russia and charged with killing two Russian journalists.[28][29]

On 8 September 2014 Amnesty International claimed that the battalion had committed war crimes, including abductions, unlawful detention, ill-treatment, theft, extortion, and possible executions.[18]

On 24 December 2014, Amnesty International reported that the unit was blocking humanitarian aid from Ukraine reaching the population of the separatist-controlled areas. Over half the population in these areas depended on food aid. According to Amnesty International, the Aidar, Donbas and Dnipro-1 battalions said they are blocking the aid because they "believe food and clothing are ending up in the wrong hands and may be sold instead of being given as humanitarian aid".[30] Denis Krivosheev, acting Director of Europe and Central Asia for Amnesty International, stated that starving civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime.[31]

In April 2015, the Ukrainian government-appointed Governor of Luhansk Hennadiy Moskal stated that Aidar battalion was "terrorizing the region" and asked Ukrainian Defense Ministry to rein in its members after a series of thefts, including ambulances and the takeover of a bread factory.[32]

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Humanitarian situation during the war in Donbas

Humanitarian situation during the war in Donbas

During the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War between the Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region of Ukraine that began in April 2014, many international organisations and states noted a deteriorating humanitarian situation in the conflict zone.

Nadiya Savchenko

Nadiya Savchenko

Nadiya Viktorivna Savchenko is a Ukrainian politician, former Army aviation pilot in the Ukrainian Ground Forces and former People's Deputy of Ukraine.

Luhansk

Luhansk

Luhansk, also known as Lugansk, is a city in Ukraine, although currently it is occupied by Russia. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be 397,677 , making Luhansk the most populous city in the region and the 12th-largest in Ukraine. In 2001, nearly half of the population was ethnically Ukrainian, and 47% was ethnically Russian.

Amnesty International

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and supporters around the world. The stated mission of the organization is to campaign for "a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments." The organization has played a notable role on human rights issues due to its frequent citation in media and by world leaders.

Donbas Battalion

Donbas Battalion

The 2nd Battalion of Special Assignment "Donbas" is a unit of the National Guard of Ukraine subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and based in Severodonetsk. Originally created in 2014 as a volunteer unit called the Donbas Battalion by Semen Semenchenko following the Russian occupation of Crimea and possible invasion of continental Ukraine. The formation of the unit started in the spring of 2014 during the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine. The unit was initially formed as an independent force, but has been since fully integrated into the National Guard as the 2nd Special Purpose Battalion "Donbas" within the 15th Regiment of the National Guard.

Hennadiy Moskal

Hennadiy Moskal

Hennadiy Hennadiyovych Moskal is a Ukrainian politician and the former governor of Zakarpattia Oblast, serving from 2015 to 2019. He was previously appointed governor of the Luhansk Oblast while the war in Donbas was ongoing in Luhansk Oblast.

Gallery

Veterans of the Battalion on the March of Defenders. Independence Day, Kyiv, 24 July 2019

Source: "Aidar Battalion", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 16th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aidar_Battalion.

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References
  1. ^ a b c d e "Айдар переформировали в отдельный армейский батальон". korrespondent.net.
  2. ^ "A Guide to Ukraine's Fighting Forces". Kyiv Post. 10 July 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  3. ^ a b Ivan Dediukh killed by landmine explosion near Starohnativka, Donetsk Obl on June 27, Euromaidan Press via Twitter (28 June 2020)
  4. ^ "The women fighting on the frontline in Ukraine". the Guardian. 5 March 2015.
  5. ^ Sharkov, Damien (10 September 2014). "Ukrainian Nationalist Volunteers Committing 'ISIS-Style' War Crimes". Newsweek.
  6. ^ Net, Amnesty International. "Ukraine: Abuses and war crimes by the Aidar Volunteer Battalion in the north Luhansk region research briefing" (PDF). Amnesty English. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  7. ^ Книга пам'яті полеглих за Україну [Book of Remembrance of the fallen for Ukraine]. www.memorybook.org.ua (in Ukrainian).
  8. ^ "Ukraine's volunteer battalions: The new model army". Ukrinform. 2014. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014.
  9. ^ "Aidar commander: Terrorists know everything". Ukrinform. 24 June 2014.
  10. ^ "Ukraine Votes On Oct. 26 To Elect New Parliament". Kyiv Post. 24 October 2014.
  11. ^ "Poroshenko Bloc to have greatest number of seats in parliament". Ukrainian Television and Radio. 8 November 2014. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014.
  12. ^ Повний список новообраних народних депутатів [Complete list of newly elected People's Deputies] (in Ukrainian). Televiziyna Sluzhba Novyn. 12 November 2014.
  13. ^ "Data on vote counting at precincts within single-mandate districts". Central Election Commission of Ukraine. 26 October 2014. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014.
  14. ^ "Електоральна пам'ять". ukr.vote.
  15. ^ "Електоральна пам'ять". ukr.vote.
  16. ^ Гелетей хоче зробити з "Айдара" регулярний спецпідрозділ [Heletey wants to turn Aidar into a regular special unit]. Ukrayinska Pravda (in Ukrainian). 8 August 2014.
  17. ^ Ukraine Struggles to Control Volunteer Fighter Squads, Reuters through Moscow Times (29 July 2015)
  18. ^ a b "DOCUMENT - UKRAINE: ABUSES AND WAR CRIMES BY THE AIDAR VOLUNTEER BATTALION IN THE NORTH LUHANSK REGION" (Press release). Amnesty International. 8 September 2014.
  19. ^ In Ukraine, Rogue Elements Defy Kiev and Separatists Alike, Stratfor (18 April 2015)
  20. ^ "10 гірсько-штурмова бригада поповниться легендарним підрозділом, "Айдар" базуватиметься у Коломиї" [10th Mountain Brigade will include the legendary assault unit Aidar based in Kolomyia]. 10brygada.com.ua (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  21. ^ Sukhov, Oleg (15 December 2014). "Diverse Aidar fighters united by goal of defending Ukraine". Kyiv Post.
  22. ^ Zinevych, Solomiya (24 June 2014). "Aydar Batallion[sic] ready to fight even as unit's future remains unclear". Kyiv Post.
  23. ^ "Svenskarna som strider i Ukraina". www.expressen.se.
  24. ^ "Svenskar strider med Ukrainas högerextremister – Arbetet".
  25. ^ Björndahl, Anna (August 2014). "Nazist från Karlskoga deltog i kriget i Ukraina - P4 Värmland". Sveriges Radio.
  26. ^ Aliyev, Huseyn (16 July 2020). "Pro-government Anti-government Armed Groups? Toward Theorizing Pro-government "Government Challengers"". Terrorism and Political Violence. 34 (7): 1369–1385. doi:10.1080/09546553.2020.1785877. ISSN 0954-6553. S2CID 225626866.
  27. ^ "Moscow Court Sanctions Arrest of Ukraine Tycoon Governor Kolomoisky". The Moscow Times. 2 July 2014.
  28. ^ "Ukraine conflict: Russia charges pilot over deaths". BBC News. 9 July 2014.
  29. ^ "Russia Charges Ukrainian Pilot Savchenko Over Journalists' Deaths". NBC News. 9 July 2014.
  30. ^ Amnesty International, Eastern Ukraine: Humanitarian disaster looms as food aid blocked, 24 December 2014.
  31. ^ "Eastern Ukraine: Humanitarian disaster looms as food aid blocked". amnesty.org.
  32. ^ "Governor of Luhansk region accuses Aidar of terrorizing the region". KyivPost. April 2015.
External links

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