Donbass-Ukraine (battalion)

The Donbass-Ukraine battalion was created on January 17, 2015 ^[3] at the initiative of officers of the Donbass battalion of the National Guard of Ukraine ^[4] .

The main initiator of the creation of the battalion "Donbass-Ukraine" was the former chief of staff of the battalion "Donbass" - Vyacheslav Vlasenko (Filin) ^[5] . On his initiative, a request was made to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for permission to organize a battalion of ground forces on the basis of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In February 2015, the formation of the battalion began in the Dnipropetrovsk region. The command headquarters and the first arrivals were stationed at the base of the 74th brigade. Later, after the start of the fourth wave of mobilization, the battalion got its place for formation - not far from the village of Orlovschina in the Dnipropetrovsk region, not far from the combined-arms training ground.

By March 11, 2015, the first tent camp structures were installed at the training ground ^[6] .

In May 2015, the battalion was formed at 65 percent. Several companies, a battalion headquarters, and a medical unit were formed. The total number of field camp buildings increased from 4 in March to 29 in May 2015.

On June 20, 2015, the battalion was armed with tanks ^[7] , which were previously in the warehouses of long-term storage of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (later, a tank company was formed from the received T-72 tanks as part of the battalion) ^[8] .

On June 28, 2015, the personnel of the battalion took the oath ^[9] .

On August 7, 2015, the formation of the battalion was completed ^[10] .

In accordance with the decree of the President of Ukraine P. A. Poroshenko No. 44 dated February 11, 2016 ^{[11], the} Berdyansk district state administration was entrusted with providing assistance to the battalion ^[12] .

Until the end of 2016, the battalion was equipped with Soviet-made ZIL, KamAZ, MAZ and KrAZ-255B vehicles; at the end of 2016, the battalion received four KrAZ-5233 ^[13] .

Features

The battalion command did not rely on draftees, but on volunteers. Therefore, the Donbass-Ukraine battalion can be fully considered a volunteer battalion formed on the basis of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The command explained its decision by the fact that volunteers are much more motivated than conscripts. ^[14]

Like the other military units of Ukraine, which began their activities after the outbreak of the military conflict in Ukraine, the Donbass-Ukraine battalion has specific combat missions and is being formed with the goal of fulfilling them.

Veterans of the Donbass battalion of the National Guard of Ukraine became the combat skeleton of the battalion. Military personnel trained at the Donbass battalion, or participated in the 2014 summer and autumn campaigns in Ukraine. ^[15]

The basis of the unit was the principle "Veterans train volunteers." Veterans were given the opportunity to train newly arrived volunteers in military affairs, based on the characteristics of the war in the Donbass.

• Battalion Commander: Vyacheslav Viktorovich Vlasenko (Eagle Owl)
• Chief of Staff: Getman Vasily Anatolyevich (Rokot)

• Official site of the battalion "Donbass-Ukraine"