Pyatnashka Brigade | |
---|---|
Бригада «Пятнашка» | |
Active | 2014–present |
Country | Donetsk People's Republic |
Branch | DPR People's Militia (2015–2022) Russian Armed Forces (2022–present) |
Size | Brigade |
Nickname(s) | The Fifteen |
Engagements | War in Donbas |
Commanders | |
Current commander | Akhra Avidzba |
The Pyatnashka Brigade is a military unit of Russian Ground Forces. Until 1 January 2023, it was part of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). It is attached to the 1st Donetsk Army Corps. [1] It mainly consists of international volunteers. The brigade is led by Akhra Avidzba. [2]
The brigade was formed in the summer of 2014. It was nicknamed "The Fifteen" in reference to the unit's original strength of 15 soldiers. The brigade would take part in the multiple battles of the War in Donbas. [3]
The brigade fought against the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive. [4] [ dead link ] The brigade was heavily involved in the Battle of Avdiivka [5] [6] In March 2024, it was reported that the brigade had accepted Chinese volunteers. [7]
The National Guard of Ukraine is the Ukrainian national gendarmerie and internal military force. It is part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, responsible for public security. Originally created as an agency under the direct control of the Verkhovna Rada on 4 November 1991, following Ukrainian independence, it was later disbanded and merged into the Internal Troops of Ukraine in 2000 by then-President Leonid Kuchma as part of a "cost-saving" scheme. Following the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, amidst the Russian intervention, the National Guard was re-established, and the Internal Troops were disbanded.
The Donetsk People's Republic is an internationally unrecognized republic of Russia, comprising the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast, with its capital in Donetsk. The DPR was created by Russian-backed paramilitaries in 2014, and it initially operated as a breakaway state until it was annexed by Russia in 2022.
Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, primarily the People's Militias of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), were pro-Russian paramilitaries in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. They were under the overall control of the Russian Federation, and were also referred to as Russian proxy forces. They were active during the war in Donbas (2014–2022), the first stage of the Russo-Ukrainian War. They then supported the Russian Armed Forces against the Ukrainian Armed Forces during the 2022 Russian invasion. In September 2022, Russia annexed the DPR and LPR, and began integrating the paramilitaries into its armed forces. They are designated as terrorist groups by the government of Ukraine.
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The Second Battle of Donetsk Airport was an engagement between the Ukrainian military and Russian military and its proxy forces of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) during the War in Donbas. An earlier battle in May 2014 had left Donetsk International Airport in Ukrainian control. Despite a ceasefire agreement, the Minsk Protocol, in place since 5 September 2014, fighting broke out between the warrying parties on 28 September 2014.
Mikhail Sergeyevich Tolstykh, better known by his nom de guerreGivi (Гиви), was a Ukrainian separatist officer wanted for war crimes. He was mainly known as the commander of the collaborationist Donetsk People's Republic's Somalia Battalion during the war in Donbas from 2014, until his assassination in early 2017.
The Right SectorUkrainian Volunteer Corps or simply the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps, was the paramilitary arm of right-wing Ukrainian nationalist party Right Sector. The Ukrainian Volunteer Corps was founded on July 17, 2014, as one of the "volunteer battalions", created as a response to the rise of pro-Russian separatism and the Russian intervention in the war in Donbas.
The 81st Separate Slobozhanska Airmobile Brigade is a brigade of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces. The brigade fought in the war in Donbas and in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Special Police Forces is a Ukrainian volunteer corps of law enforcement units, part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. It was originally created for prevention of criminal encroachment and defence of civil order on 15 April 2014, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. During the ongoing war in Donbas, the forces of the Special Tasks Patrol Police have fought against pro-Russian separatists as a paramilitary force.
The Territorial Defence Forces are the military reserve component of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The combatants of the war in Donbas included foreign and domestic forces.
Ukraine's easternmost oblasts, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv, are the site of a theatre of operation in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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The battle of Avdiivka was a major battle between the Russian and Ukrainian Armed Forces for control of Avdiivka, a city in Donetsk Oblast, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After more than a year and a half of intermittent fighting along the city's outskirts, Russian forces launched an offensive to capture Avdiivka on 10 October 2023, resulting in what was considered one of the bloodiest and fiercest battles of the war.
The battle of Marinka was a battle for the city of Marinka between the Armed Forces of Russia and the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the larger eastern Ukraine campaign of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The battle of Bakhmut was a major battle between the Russian Armed Forces and the Ukrainian Armed Forces for control of the city of Bakhmut, during the eastern Ukraine campaign, a theatre of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is regarded by military analysts to be the bloodiest battle since the end of World War II.
The battle of Vuhledar is a military engagement in the eastern theatre of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, around the town of Vuhledar in western Donetsk Oblast, near the pre-invasion line of contact between Ukraine and the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. Ukrainian commanders have described it as the largest tank battle of the Russo-Ukrainian War to date.
The 3rd Army Corps is a military formation of the Russian Ground Forces formed in June 2022 to participate in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The 3rd Corps was raised in response to the depletion of trained manpower during the early months of the invasion. It was formed exclusively by volunteers, as at that point Russia had not yet begun the process of partial mobilization and preferred to avoid or delay doing so. Recruitment was on a regional basis, with federal subject administrations and local authorities conducting recruitment campaigns. Its current effective strength estimated at 15,500–60,000 personnel as of January 2023, and originally belonged to the Western Military District, before moving under the command of the Central Military District in 2023.
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