Ukrainian Volunteer Corps
| Right Sector Ukrainian Volunteer Corps | |
|---|---|
| Доброво́льчий Украї́нський Ко́рпус «Пра́вий се́ктор» | |
 Insignia | |
| Active | 2014-present |
| Country |  Ukraine |
| Allegiance |  Right Sector |
| Size | 5,000 (2014)[1] |
| Nickname(s) | "Cyborgs"[2] |
| Engagements | War in Donbas |
| Website | https://pravyysektor.info/dobrovolchyy-ukrayinskyy-korpus-pravyy-sektor |
| Commanders | |
| Current Commander | Andriy Stempitsky ("Letun") |
| Former commander | Dmytro Yarosh ("Yastrub") |
| Insignia | |
| Ukranian Volunteer Army insignia |  |
| Flag |  |
| Right Sector flag |  |
The Right Sector Ukrainian Volunteer Corps (Ukrainian: Добровольчий український корпус «Пра́вий се́ктор», ДУК ПС, romanized: Dobrovolʹchyy ukrayinsʹkyy korpus "Právyy séktor", DUK PS) or simply the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps (Ukrainian: Добровольчий український корпус, ДУК, romanized: Dobrovolʹchyy ukrayinsʹkyy korpus, DUK), is a paramilitary group created and controlled by Far-right Ukrainian nationalist party Right Sector, founded on July 17, 2014. The Ukrainian Volunteer Corps was founded as one of the "volunteer battalions", created as a reponse to rise of pro-Russian separatism and the Russian intervention at the War in Donbas.[3] In 2015 after the resignation of Dmytro Yarosh, the UVC was announced to become the base of the larger Ukrainian Volunteer Army (Ukrainian: Українська добровольча армія, УДА, romanized: Ukrayinsʹka dobrovolʹcha armiya, UDA).[4]
They officially define themselves as a "voluntary formation of Ukrainian citizens, Ukrainians from abroad and non-Ukrainians - citizens of other countries who share the ideology of Ukrainian nationalism and have expressed a desire to participate in the Ukrainian people's armed struggle against external and internal enemies."[5] The Ukrainian Volunteer Corps is mostly formed by members of the Right Sector, but accept volunteers without any party affiliations, and they have also accepted membership of foreigners, including Belarusians, Westerners and even Russians.[6] The group was founded by Dmytro Yarosh—nom-de-guerre "Yastrub" ("Hawk")—who is also the leader of the Right Sector, and it was formed with basis of an irregular militia that the Right Sector formed during the Euromaidan which patrolled the streets after the fall of the Yanukovych government.[7]
On July 2014 the Corps boasted they had 5,000 troops.[1] The group engaged into various combat situations during the War in Donbas and later in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. While most of the Ukrainian volunteer battalions were later integrated by the Ukranian government into either the Ukrainian Ground Forces and the Ukrainian National Guard, the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps is a minority that remains indepedent.[8]
History
Founding
The Ukrainian Volunteer Corps has it's origins on vigilante militias created by the Right Sector formed during the Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity. After the Yanukovych government, the police largely abandoned the streets of Kyiv and groups of young men, including members of Right Sector, patrolled them armed mostly with baseball bats and sometimes with guns.[9] The guns the Right Sector volunteers had were stolen from the Militsiya at the end of the Maidan.[10]
After the eruption of the War in Donbas on April 2014. The regular Ukrainian Armed Forces suffered a number of defeats and setbacks against the separatists, as they were ill-prepared, ill-equipped, lacking in professionalism, morale, fighting spirit and with severe incompetence in the high command.[11] The reaction saw the creation of various "volunteer battalions" militias and paramilitary groups formed by willing civilians to fight the separatists on their own initiative.[12] Many volunteers of the Right Sector initially formed the "Dnipro-2" volunteer battalion—in reference to Dnipro-1—however, the Ministry of Internal Affairs refused to register the group.[13]
On July 15, 2014. The leader of the Right Sector, Dmytro Yarosh, announced the creation of the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps as the Right Sector's own volunteer battalion. Differently from other far-right formations, such as the Azov Battalion and Sich Battalion, or the "Dnipro-1" which "Dnipro-2" was named after, the Volunteer Corps weren't going to be subordinates of the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a "Special Tasks Patrol Police". This was caused by a distrust of the Ministry after Right Sector activist Aleksandr Muzychko was shot dead by the Militsiya.[13] On July 17, the first orders were given and the official statute was issued, and is considered the official date of formation of the Corps.[5]
Combat history
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War in Donbas
The Ukrainian Volunteer Corps went to the front on the Donetsk Oblast, where they had their baptism of fire at the Battle in Shakhtarsk Raion when they captured the town of Avdiivka from Russian separatist together with the 93rd Mechanized Brigade.[14] Later in 1 August, the Volunteer Corps together with the 51st Guards Mechanized Brigade took the town of Krasnohorivka.[15]
On 12 August, they lost twelve fighters when they were ambushed outside Donetsk heading to the Petrovsky District in August 2014. Only two soldiers in the bus escaped.[16] Yarosh, the group's leader, vowed his group would avenge the deaths.[16]
Five days later, Right Sector accused the Ministry of Internal Affairs of harbouring counterrevolutionary forces seeking to destroy the Ukrainian volunteer movement.[17] It said that Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Yevdokimov's followers among the police had illegally searched or detained dozens of Ukrainian Volunteer Corps volunteers and confiscated weapons they had taken in combat.[18] The Right sector also demanded the then President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko to "clean out" the Ministry from disloyal members otherwise they would withdraw from the combat zone and march to Kyiv. The then Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov countered by saying the Right Sector volunteers weren't even in the frontlines. However, by August 17, Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh reversed and said his statement demands were met in part and that his volunteers would continue to fight the separatists.[19]
Around the end September, the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps started to deploy its troops in western Donetsk, around the area of the village of Pisky and the Donetsk International Airport, taking part of the famous Second Battle of Donetsk Airport.[20] Together with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Volunteer Corps stood their ground and held control of the airport after various attacks by Russian separatists and Russian Armed Forces for almost two months until they withdrew on 12 November,[21] while the rest of the Ukrainian forces pulled out on early January.[22] Due their fierce defense, the troops that fought in Donetsk Airport were nicknamed "Cyborgs" (Ukrainian: кіборг, romanized: kiborh), a moniker given by DPR separatists.[23] The Right Sector volunteer corps is one of the units considered as one of the "cyborgs".[2]
In December, the Corps joined fellow volunteer battalions 40th Territorial Defence Battalion "Kryvbas", Dnipro-1 and Donbas Battalion in doing inspections on freight traffic going to the ATO zone in order to prevent arms traffic by pro-russian sympathizers to separatist forces through humanitarian convoys.[24]
On 15 March 2015, the Volunteer Corps started to be redeployed in the southern front around the Sea of Azov to the Shyrokyne standoff.[25] In February, the Azov Battalion started a military operation to push DPR separist forces away from Mariupol, turned into a fierce fighting for control of the village of Shyrokyne.[26] On March, the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps joined the battle and covered the defensive flanks of the Azov and Donbas Battalion.[25] By July, most volunteer forces in Shyrokyne were rotated out of the front by regular forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.[27]
During the rest of the War in Donbas, the DUK did patrol operations around the line of contact at the ATO zone. According to Yarosh, by 2016 circa 300 volunteers remained in the contact line doing specific tasks, such as Reconnaissance and Counter-sniper operations.[28]
2015 clash with Ukraine's special security service
On 10 July 2015, Ukrainian government forces clashed with Right Sector forces in the city of Mukacheve, located in Western Ukraine. Two people were killed. According to President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko's parliamentary faction leader Yuriy Lutsenko, these events "result[ed from] the conflict of interests between illegal armed groups and a mafia overtly cooperating with law enforcers."[29] Some local leaders indicated the conflict ensued when Right Sector forces attempted to clamp down on the lucrative illegal cigarette smuggling trade to Western Europe, in which local law enforcement have been complicit. Immediate fallout from the events included the sacking of the leadership of the local Zakarpatya district customs service. Ukrainian MP Mykhailo Lanyo, fingered in the smuggling ring, reportedly fled Ukraine.[30] Right Sector leader Yarosh called for calm, and denied that Right Sector troops were being withdrawn from eastern Ukraine.[31][32][33][34]
Crimea border blockade
On 20 September 2015, the Right Sector together with the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People started a massive traffic obstruction of Russian-controlled Crimea. It saw demonstrators blocking traffic of trucks, railways, electricity and water going to Crimea. Although passenger cars were allowed to go[35][36].
The Right Sector paramiltaries of the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps joined the blockage, together with members of the Azov Regiment they provided security to the demonstrators.[37][38]
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
At the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Right Sector mobilized their volunteer corps again to fight the invading Russian forces. The Ukrainian Volunteer Corps fought at the Siege of Chernihiv, where the fought for control of 10 villages around the Nizhyn Raion,[39] helped to defend the capital Kyiv during the Kyiv offensive,[40] and were reported to have fought at the Siege of Mariupol.[41] On 14 March, co-founder of the Right Sector and 2nd Separate Battalion commander Mykola Kravchenko was killed in action in the village of Horenka during the Kyiv Offensive along with Fox News journalist.[42]
Organization
The Ukrainian Volunteer Corps first commander (and also its founder) was Dmytro Yarosh ("Yastrub") who was also the founder and Party leader of Right Sector. He led the UVC until November 2015 when he resigned as president of the Right Sector.[43] After his resignation, the UVC was announced to become the base of the larger Ukrainian Volunteer Army (Ukrainian: Українська добровольча армія, УДА, romanized: Ukrayinsʹka dobrovolʹcha armiya, UDA).[4]
Differently from many of the Ukrainian volunteer battalions and Territorial defence battalions, the Right Sector Ukrainian Volunteer Corps is not part of either the Ministry of Internal Affairs or Ministry of Defence. It operates indepedently,[44] as such, the government does not provide weapons, only ammunitions, and the UVC has to rely on either captured or indepedently funded equipment.[45] It does cooperate with Ukrainian authorities, but it has in past made declarations that they would refuse certain orders: it said it would respect the Minsk agreements cease-fire but reserves the right not to comply with the ceasefire orders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and reserves the right to continue active hostilities in accordance with its own plans.[46] Similarly, it refused to pull out its troops during the Shyrokyne standoff.[47]
The indepedence of the unit has always been a point of contention and has caused controversy.[48] In 2015 there were plans to fully integrate it into the Ukrainian Ground Forces.[49][48] They refused to join the Armed Forces. In April 2015 the UVC was ordered to move back into the rearguard by the Ukrainian military forces. The combat units of the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps retreated to the rear to their training base in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The base was surrounded by checkpoints of the 95th and 25th Air assault brigades. There were rumors that the "Right Sector" units were ordered either to disarm for refusing to go over to the subordination of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, or simply subjected to intimidation in order to "maintain order".[50] In December 2015, it was announced that the 5th and 8th battalions, and the medical battalion of the Volunteer Corps were integrated into the Army.[51] In 2016, the Chief Military Prosecutor of Ukraine Anatolii Matios stated in a radio interview stated that the Right Sector Ukrainian Volunteer Corps is an illegal armed formation in all legal grounds and in accordance with the Ukrainian Constitution. The military prosecutor spoke out against weapons in the rear “under the slogans of patriotism” and noted that if “we start turning a blind eye to this, then chaos will come in Ukraine” At the same time, he added that many of the dead fighters of the Right Sector are heroes who defended the country.[52]
In 2014, the structure of the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps was composed by mobilization, training and intelligence centers, and battalions, which are divided into combat (directly participating in hostilities) and reserve.[53] The UVC also has a medical battalion (the "Hospitallers") and a "Field Gendarmerie".
The Ukrainian Volunteer Corps allows the recruitment of foreigners. It had two battalions composed exclusively by foreigners: the Sheikh Mansur Battalion, formed by anti-Russian Muslim Chechens,[54] and Tactical group "Belarus", composed by anti-Lukashenko Belarusians.[55]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Right Sector ready to send 5,000 people to east". Kiev. Ukrinform. 19 July 2014. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
Press Secretary … Skoropadsky said … 'We came to support actions of the President on holding the ATO [anti-terrorist operation]. But actually it is not well held. I saw that the volunteer battalions lack weapons. This is the most important requirement.'
Unknown parameter|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Cyborgs vs Kremlin". web.archive.org. 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
- ↑ Yarosh assembles 'Donbas' special battalion Archived 5 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Kyiv Post (24 April 2014) Ukraine's extremists forming battalion in Donetsk region Archived 26 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine, ITAR-TASS (24 April 2014)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "«Червень» (Андрій Гергерт): «Ми вільні. Бачимо ворога – вбиваємо» - портал новин LB.ua". web.archive.org. 2019-12-08. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Загальні положення про Добровольчий Український Корпус «Правий сектор» | Офіційний сайт НВР "Правий сектор". web.archive.org. 2018-01-12. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
- ↑ Sukhov, Oleg (24 April 2015). "Foreigners Who Fight And Die For Ukraine: Russians join Ukrainians to battle Kremlin in Donbas". Kyiv Post. Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2015. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Kramer, Andrew (21 March 2014). "Deadline is set for militias in uprising to surrender their illegal guns". The New York Times. p. A12. Archived from the original on 22 February 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
'It's not normal to ask people to hand in their weapons in the situation we have now,' Dmytro Yarosh, the leader of a right-wing paramilitary group, Right Sector, said in an interview….
Unknown parameter|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Ukrainian Military Personnel". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
- ↑ Gatehouse, Gabriel (1 March 2014). Ukraine: Far-right armed with bats patrol Kiev (Webcast). BBC.
At a news conference in Russia, [former President Yanukovych] called his usurpers 'young, neo-fascist thugs'.
- ↑ Kramer, Andrew (21 March 2014). "Deadline is set for militias in uprising to surrender their illegal guns". The New York Times. p. A12. Archived from the original on 22 February 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
'It's not normal to ask people to hand in their weapons in the situation we have now,' Dmytro Yarosh, the leader of a right-wing paramilitary group, Right Sector, said in an interview….
Unknown parameter|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Kinstler, Linda (2014-05-09). "Why is Ukraine's Army So Appallingly Bad?". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
- ↑ "Добровольчі батальйони на Сході України: хто вони?". Uacrisis.org (in українська). 2015-03-16. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Позивний Мольфар. Письменник на війні | Українська правда _Життя". web.archive.org. 2015-02-06. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
- ↑ "Бійці ДУК та 93 бригада ЗСУ знайшли катівню ДНР і тіло вбитого ними цивільного | Правий сектор :: Львів". web.archive.org. 2014-08-02. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
- ↑ "Сили АТО звільнили Красногорівку – Ярош | Українська правда". web.archive.org. 2014-08-04. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Zinets, Natalia (13 August 2014). "Twelve Ukrainian nationalist fighters killed in separatist ambush". Reuters. Archived from the original on 8 February 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Ukraine crisis: Russian aid convoy arrives at border". BBC News. 17 August 2014. Archived from the original on 21 July 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
The leader of the ultra-nationalist Right Sector threatened to withdraw volunteers] fighting on the government side. ... Yarosh said Right Sector would launch a 'campaign in Kyiv' if its demands ... were not met within 48 hours.
Unknown parameter|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Yarosh, Dmytro; Stempitskyy, Andriy (17 August 2014). "Letter to the President of Ukraine from the Right Sector military-political movement". Euromaidan Press. Kiev. Archived from the original on 18 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
Starting with the destruction of our colleague Oleksandr Muzychka … there is a methodical game from the side of the police…. We demand the release of all detainees and the closing of all criminal proceedings against the soldiers of the Ukrainian Volunteer Right Sector Corps and other volunteer units….
Unknown parameter|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Ukrainian Military Personnel". web.archive.org. 2021-12-27. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
- ↑ "Кіборг Саша з Донецького аеропорту: Бойовики воюють з нами і між собою | Українська правда". web.archive.org. 2014-10-22. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
- ↑ "Правий сектор вийшов з аеропорту, але його ніхто не здає | Українська правда". web.archive.org. 2014-11-20. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
- ↑ "Ukraine forces admit loss of Donetsk airport to rebels". the Guardian. 2015-01-21. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
- ↑ "Insult Evolves Into Homage As Donetsk Airport Defenders Dubbed 'Cyborgs'". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
- ↑ "Наказ №28 | Бандерівець". web.archive.org. 2015-01-02. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Начальник штаба «Правого сектора» рассказал об обороне Широкино - 0629.com.ua". web.archive.org. 2015-03-22. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
- ↑ "Kyiv reports army counter-offensive near Mariupol - Feb. 10, 2015". KyivPost. 2015-02-10. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
- ↑ Quinn, Allison; Zhuk, Alyona (28 July 2015). "Pullout from Shyrokyne angers soldiers, stokes fear in Mariupol". Kiev Post. Archived from the original on 29 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
- ↑ "Ярош: Я переоценил организационные возможности Правого сектора". web.archive.org. 2016-02-04. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
- ↑ "Yuriy Lutsenko: Mukacheve incident is a collision between mafia and militants". Kyiv Post. 13 July 2015. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Lanyo, involved in Mukacheve shooting, flees Ukraine due to MP immunity". unian.info. 24 July 2015. Archived from the original on 1 August 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Moscow, Alec Luhn in (12 July 2015). "Ukraine government in armed standoff with nationalist militia". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Ukraine's security forces negotiating with holed up Right Sector fighters". Kyiv Post. 13 July 2015. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Right sector in Ukraine takes 6-year-old hostage – standoff with police". Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Four civilians, three policemen injured in shootout in Mukacheve, Ukrainian interior minister reports". Kyiv Post. 11 July 2015. Archived from the original on 12 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Азов присоединился к блокаде Крыма". korrespondent.net (in русский). Retrieved 2022-05-04.
- ↑ "Дорогою на «блокаду» Криму". Крым.Реалии (in українська). Retrieved 2022-05-04.
- ↑ "Андрій Стемпіцький запропонував перекрити Криму залізницю та електропостачання | Бандерівець". web.archive.org. 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
- ↑ "Азов присоединился к блокаде Крыма". korrespondent.net (in русский). Retrieved 2022-05-05.
- ↑ "ДУК "Правий сектор" звільнив 10 населених пунктів від російських окупантів". Офіційний сайт НВР "Правий сектор (in українська). 2022-04-01. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
- ↑ Nast, Condé (2022-04-30). "How Ukrainians Saved Their Capital". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
- ↑ "Ukraine: The critical fight for 'heart of this war' Mariupol". BBC News. 2022-04-13. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
- ↑ "Publisher, Azov fighter Mykola Kravchenko died defending Ukraine - KyivPost - Ukraine's Global Voice". KyivPost. 2022-05-02. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
- ↑ "UNIAN news. The latest news in Ukraine and worldwide". uatoday.tv. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ↑ "Батальон ОУН готовы отдать под суд из-за неподчинения 27.04.2015". ВЕСТИ (in русский). 2015-04-27. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
- ↑ "Верстат як привід для невеличкого свята". web.archive.org. 2015-07-13. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
- ↑ Ярош: Соглашения с боевиками противоречат Конституции, ДУК «ПС» не собирается прекращать огонь
- ↑ "Ukraine's fighters vow to stay in Shyrokyne, key to defending Mariupol - Jul. 11, 2015". KyivPost. 2015-07-11. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
- ↑ 48.0 48.1 Mironova, Vera; Sergatskova, Ekaterina (2017-08-01). "How Ukraine Reined In Its Militias". ISSN 0015-7120. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
- ↑ "Батальйон Яроша можуть легалізувати – Бірюков | Українська правда". web.archive.org. 2014-11-28. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
- ↑ "Часть ПС отказалась присоединиться к ВСУ 29.04.2015". ВЕСТИ (in русский). 2015-04-29. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
- ↑ "Ярош оголошує про заснування нового руху та виходить з НВР ПС | Правий сектор :: Львів". web.archive.org. 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
- ↑ "Матиос: По всем признакам и согласно Конституции ДУК "Правый сектор" - незаконное вооруженное формирование". gordonua.com. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
- ↑ admin. "Средние расценки на секс-услуги в Украине и иных регионах — Новости Ужгорода и Закарпатья — новини Ужгорода на novunu.uz.ua" (in русский). Retrieved 2022-05-05.
- ↑ "Чеченський батальйон Шейха Мансура на захисті українців - Офіційний сайт "Правого сектору"". web.archive.org. 2017-05-27. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
- ↑ "Белорусские добровольцы в Украине объединились". web.archive.org. 2015-08-16. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
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