81st Special Forces Brigade "Bears" (), also mentioned by the media as PMC "Bear", () is a Russian volunteer military formation created in 2023 to participate in the invasion of Ukraine and support pro-Russian regimes in African countries. It is part of the PMC " Redut".

History

The first announcements about the creation of a volunteer battalion called "Bears" appeared on March 17, 2023. As in other units of "Redut", recruits were offered a six-month contract with a monthly salary of 220 thousand rubles. The training base of the unit is located near the military town in the village of Perevalne in Crimea, at the former training ground of the coastal defense forces of the

Ukrainian Navy The Ukrainian Navy (), is the Navy, maritime force of Ukraine and one of the eight Military branch, service branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The naval forces consist of five components: surface forces, submarine forces, Ukrainian Naval ...

. In early April, the battalion's training ground was visited by the

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

of the

Republic of Crimea Crimea, or the Crimean Peninsula, historically also known as the ''Tauric Chersonese'' (Tauric Peninsula, Tauric, Taurica, or Tauris), is a major peninsula in the north of the Black Sea. Crimea may also refer to: Places Crimean Peninsula Republic ...

, Sergei Aksyonov, and the Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia,

Yunus-Bek Yevkurov Yunus-bek Bamatgireyevich Yevkurov (born 23 July 1963) is a Russian army general and politician. For over 10 years he was the head of the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia, appointed by President Dmitry Medvedev on 30 October 2008. The f ...

. The number of fighters at this stage was 400. On May 30, the volunteer battalion, which never managed to take part in combat operations, was named the 81st Special Forces Brigade "Bears". As of October 2023, the battalion of the 81st brigade was in the Kherson region to respond promptly to raids by Ukrainian Armed Forces units across the Dnieper on the front line between

Oleshky Oleshky (, ), previously known as Tsiurupynsk from 1928 to 2016, is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Kherson Raion, Kherson Oblast, southern Ukraine, located on the left bank of the Dnieper River with the town of Solontsi, Kherson Raion, So ...

and Novaya Kakhovka. The brigade is part of the BEAR expeditionary corps, established to conduct operations on the African continent. At the end of November 2023, the brigade commander Vitaly Yermolaev announced the corps' participation in the fight against jihadists in Burkina Faso. In particular, it was claimed that "Russian specialists" helped repel an attack on the city of

Djibo Djibo is a town in northern Burkina Faso and the capital city of Soum Province. It is situated north of Ouagadougou and from the border with Mali. It was founded in the 16th century and became the capital of Djilgodji, before becoming dominate ...

on November 28. However, no evidence of Russian presence in Djibo has been published. According to

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

, a hundred brigade fighters arrived in Burkina Faso in May 2024. On July 25, the head of the Burkinabe junta, Captain

Ibrahim Traoré Ibrahim Traoré (; born 14 March 1988) is a Burkinabé military officer and politician who has served as the interim President of Burkina Faso since 2022. Traoré took control of Burkina Faso in September 2022, ousting interim president Pa ...

, was filmed in the country's capital,

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...

, surrounded by Russian military formations, at least one of whom was wearing a "BEAR" armband and the corps' emblem. In late August, the corps was withdrawn from Burkina Faso and sent to the

Kursk Oblast Kursk Oblast (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Kursk. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, Kursk Oblast had a pop ...

to counter the Ukrainian army's

offensive Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

References

{{Russian invasion of Ukraine Military units and formations established in 2023 Russian mercenaries Military units and formations of Russia in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ground Forces brigades of the Russian Federation