Sich Battalion

Sich Battalion in 2014.

The Sich Battalion was formed by the Svoboda party in June 2014, and named after the Sich of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, which challenged the Polish, Russian, and Turkish rule of Ukraine.[2] The unit is one of several Ukrainian paramilitary volunteer battalions formed at the start of the War in Donbass in 2014, along with the Svyatyi Mykolai Battalion or Donbas Battalion, to fight against pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. The Sich Battalion officially became an active unit of Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs following its oath taking ceremony on 26 August 2014, and is composed of around 50 volunteers, some of whom have prior military service.[3] Like other volunteer units, Sich Battalion members underwent two months of basic training prior to activation and began engaging separatist forces with minimal training or equipment. While the Sich Battalion was much smaller than other volunteer units, it was designed for the specific purpose of combating insurgents in the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine.[4]

Volunteers of the Sich Battalion, behind them is the flag of Svoboda.

Arsen Avakov, the head of Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs, said that a member of the Sich Battalion was arrested after a member of the National Guard of Ukraine was killed during rioting in Kyiv on August 31, 2015.[5]

On 21 December 2015, the Sich Battalion was reformed into the 4th Company "Sich" of the Kyiv Regiment, as part of the Kyiv city special police, with Maxim Morozov as its commander.

Member of the Sich Battalion wearing a balaclava with a Wolfsangel.

On August 26, 2014, about 100 soldiers of the battalion took the Oath of Allegiance to the people of Ukraine, after which about 50 soldiers went to the area of the Russo-Ukrainian War.[6][7] Solemn farewells took place on Instytutska Street in Kyiv, where the heroes of the Heavenly Hundred died in the winter.[8][9][10]

Together with the soldiers, seven people's deputies of the 7th convocation (2012-2014) from the VO Svoboda went to the East: Yuriy Syrotiuk, Oleksiy Kaida, Oleh Osukhovsky, Oleh Gelevey, Oleksandr Myrnyi, Andriy Tyagnybok, and Oleksiy Furman. They took turns accompanying the fighters during their stay in the anti-terrorist operation zone.

On September 27, the battalion's fighters returned from the anti-terrorist operation to their place of deployment.[11] On September 30, after a solemn ceremony, a new special unit of the battalion left for eastern Ukraine.

According to the press service of the battalion, part of the unit is located in the Donetsk region near Kurakhovo, where it performs tasks to protect the dam of Kurakhiv TPP.[12] The battalion's base camp is located in Slovyansk, where special forces guard peace in the city and maintain law and order.[13]

Battle path:

• Slovyansk: September 2014 to March 2015
• Kurakhove: October 2014 to October 2015
• Pisky: October 2014 to June 2015
• Avdiivka: March to October 2015 * Svatove: October to November 2015
• Kramatorsk: December 18, 2015 to the present
• Avdiivka: March 2016 to the present
• Druzhkivka: 2017 - to the present time

• Victor Tsymbal, a police officer, died on November 14, 2014.
• Serhiy Malyuchenko, a private of the police, died on May 14, 2015 from kidney disease received while on service.
• Myroslav Mysla, junior lieutenant, died on October 2, 2016 in battle, after being transferred to the service of the company "Carpathian Sich" 93 OMBr.
• Mykola Krendzhelyak, a police officer, died on April 21, 2017 after dismissal.
• Volodymyr Stayura, volunteer, died on August 26, 2017 after dismissal.
• Vasyl Kryshchuk, a senior soldier, died in battle on August 18, 2018, while serving in 14 OMBr.
• Ostap Vergun, a police officer, died on January 17, 2019 at home after a long illness with hypertension.
• Eduard Kulytka, police chief, technical support instructor, died on August 29, 2019 after dismissal.

• List of special law enforcement units