, image = Patch of the Sich Battalion.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = , dates = June 2014 – present , country = , allegiance = Flag of Svoboda

VO Svoboda (2014–2015)

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

, branch = Special Tasks Patrol Police , type =

Police Tactical Unit A police tactical unit (PTU) is a specialized police unit trained to handle situations that are beyond the capabilities of ordinary law enforcement units because of the level of violence (or risk of violence) involved. A police tactical unit's tas ...

, role = , size = , command_structure = , garrison = , Past_commanders = , ceremonial_chief = , notable_commanders = , identification_symbol = , identification_symbol_2 = , nickname = , patron = , motto = , colors = , march = , mascot = , battles =

War in Donbas War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regula ...

* Battle of Marinka * Battle of Avdiivka 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine * Kyiv offensive **

Battle of Kyiv (2022) The battle of Kyiv was part of the Kyiv offensive in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine for control of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine, and surrounding districts. The combatants were elements of the Russian Armed Forces and Ukrainian Gro ...

Northeastern Ukraine offensive The northeastern Ukraine campaign was a theatre of operation from 24 February to 8 April 2022 in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine for control of two provinces (oblasts) in Ukraine — Chernihiv Oblast and Sumy Oblast. On 4 April 2022, Ukr ...

Battle of Kharkiv (2022) The Battle of Kharkiv was a military engagement that took place from February to May 2022 in and around the city of Kharkiv in Ukraine, as part of the northeastern Ukraine offensive and eastern Ukraine offensive during the 2022 Russian invas ...

* Eastern Ukraine offensive **

Battle of Donbas (2022) The Battle of Donbas is an ongoing military offensive that is part of the wider eastern Ukraine offensive of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The battle began on 18 April 2022 between the armed forces of Russia and Ukraine for control o ...

*** Battle of Sviatohirsk ***

Battle of Izium (2022) The Battle of Izium was a military engagement between Russia and Ukraine that occurred as part of the Eastern Ukraine offensive during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The battle started in March 2022 for control of the town of Izium due ...

(Leader K.I.A.) , anniversaries = , decorations = , battle_honours = The Sich Battalion ( uk, Батальйон "Сiч"), also called the Carpathian Sich Battalion () and officially known as the 4th Sich Company of the Kyiv Regiment (), is a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * Som ...

special police battalion consisting of volunteers from

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

. The unit was formed in June 2014 by volunteers from the party Svoboda at the start of the

History

Foundation and early operations

The Sich Battalion was formed by the Svoboda party in June 2014. The unit is one of several Ukrainian paramilitary volunteer battalions formed at the start of the

in 2014, along with the

Svyatyi Mykolai Battalion Svyatyi Mykolai Battalion (translated: Saint Nicholas Battalion), also known as Mykolaiv Battalion, is a special police battalion from Mykolaiv Oblast. The formation was established on 5 May 2014 in Mykolaiv during the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in U ...

Donbas Battalion , image = Emblem of the Donbas Battalion.svg , image_size = 200 , caption = Donbas Battalion emblem , start_date = , country = , alle ...

, to fight against pro-Russian separatists in the

Donbas The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...

region of eastern Ukraine. The Sich Battalion officially became an active unit of Ukraine's

following its

oath Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to g ...

taking ceremony on 26 August 2014, and is composed of around 50 volunteers, some of whom have prior military service. Like other volunteer units, Sich Battalion members underwent two months of

basic training Military recruit training, commonly known as basic training or boot camp, refers to the initial instruction of new military personnel. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process, which resocializes its subjects for the unique deman ...

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 From the end of February 2014, demonstrations by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place in major cities across the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity, which resulted in the succ ...

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

ATO zone ATO may refer to: Technology *Abort to Orbit, an intact abort procedure for Space Shuttle launches * Arsenic trioxide a potent chemotherapeutic agent for acute promyelocytic leukemia *ATO fuse * Automatic train operation *Assisted take off Milit ...

. Solemn farewells took place on Instytutska Street in

, where the heroes of the Heavenly Hundred died in the winter. Together with the soldiers, seven people's deputies of the 7th convocation (2012-2014) from the Svoboda party went to the East: Yuriy Syrotiuk, Oleksiy Kaida,

Oleh Osukhovsky Oleh may refer to: * Oleh, Delta * Common Ukrainian male name, see also Oleg * A Jew immigrating to Israel (plural of oleh is olim) See also * Oleg (disambiguation) Oleg is a Slavic masculine given name. Oleg may also refer to * Oleg (danc ...

Oleh Gelevey Oleh may refer to: * Oleh, Delta * Common Ukrainian male name, see also Oleg * A Jew immigrating to Israel (plural of oleh is olim) See also * Oleg (disambiguation) Oleg is a Slavic masculine given name. Oleg may also refer to * Oleg (dance ...

Oleksandr Myrnyi Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants li ...

Andriy Tyagnybok Andriy or AndriiOleksiy 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. 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. The battalion's base camp is located in

Sloviansk Sloviansk ( uk, Слов'янськ, Sloviansk ; russian: Славянск, Slavyansk or ; prior to 1784 – Tor) is a city in the Kramatorsk district of the Donetsk region of Ukraine, the administrative center of the Slovyansk urban commun ...

, where special forces guard peace in the city and maintain law and order.

Operations as police unit

By 2015, the Ministry of Internal Affairs banned people registered in political parties of enlisting in their units. The Sich Battalion cut their official ties with Svoboda and 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 Special police usually describes a police force or unit within a police force whose duties and responsibilities are significantly different from other forces in the same country or from other police in the same force, although there is no consiste ...

, with Maxim Morozov as its commander.

Arsen Avakov Arsen Borysovych Avakov hy, Արսեն Բորիսի Ավակով (born 2 January 1964) is a Ukrainian politician and businessman. From 2014 to 2021 he was Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs, first being appointed in the first cabinet of ...

, 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 The National Guard of Ukraine (NGU; uk, Націона́льна гва́рдія Украї́ни, Natsionalna hvardiia Ukrainy, , ) is the Ukrainian national gendarmerie and internal military force. It is part of the Ministry of Internal ...

was killed during rioting in Kyiv on August 31, 2015. At the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sich Battalion fought against the Russian

Kyiv offensive (2022) The Kyiv offensive was a theater in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. It involved attacks by Russia across the Russo-Ukrainian and Belarusian–Ukrainian borders beginning on 24 February 2022 for the control of Kyiv and its surrounding ...

. It later redeployed to combat the Eastern Ukraine offensive, participating in the

. On 19 June, the commander of the Sich Battalion, Oleh Kutsyn, was killed in action fighting near Izium. The battalion is now commanded by a 58-year old, formerly retired career soldier, who uses the

code name A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in industrial c ...

Swat. During the Ukrainian Kharkiv counteroffensive, the battalion has been on the forefront of the fighting at Izium and Lyman, both strategically important cities, to provide flanking support. On October 3rd, 2022, they seized an additional settlement to the east, secured a series of dams, and more settlements in northern Donetsk province.

References and notes

{{commons category, Sich Battalion Special tasks patrol police of Ukraine History of Kyiv Oblast Military units and formations established in 2014 2014 establishments in Ukraine Far-right politics in Ukraine