24th Separate Assault Battalion "Aidar", also known as the Aidar Battalion, is an assault battalion of the

Ukrainian Ground Forces The Ukrainian Ground Forces (SVZSU, ), also referred to as the Ukrainian army, is a land force, and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It was formed from Ukrainian units of the Soviet Army after Declaratio ...

. The unit was created in May 2014 by the name 24th Territorial Defense Battalion "Aydar" () and took part in the war in Eastern Ukraine and had roughly 300-400 members in 2014. It was named after the

Aidar River The Aidar (, ) is a river in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine and Belgorod Oblast, Russia. A left tributary of the Seversky Donets, it is long (with located within Ukraine) and has a basin area of .territorial defense battalion of Ukraine - a volunteer military detachment subordinate to the

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. The battalion's founder and former commander is . Aidar Battalion logo 04

2014

On May 22, 2014, the first operation of the Aidar Battalion took place in Starobilsk. A group of volunteers from across Ukraine defeated and captured Russian backed separatists that were blocking the shipment of Ukrainian military equipment towards Luhansk. In June 2014 the Battalion participates in the liberation of Schastya, the northern suburbs of Luhansk, from Russian backed separatists. According to the Aidar battalion, 58 militants were eliminated during the operation. Then late that month the Battalion was involved in an attack on Separatists in Lunhansk not coordinated or approved by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. This engagement then lead to influence campaigns as part of information warfare in the region with Battalion and Separatist leaders making counter claims. In July the Aidar Battalion was involved in the battles to liberate Luhansk airport. The soldiers entrenched themselves on the Luhansk-Lutuyne highway near the bridge over the Vilkhivka River and unblocked the airport. During the engagement from July 20-27th the Aidar Battalion liberated five settlements and four highways while sustaining heavy casualties. On 8 August 2014 Ukraine's Defense Minister

Valeriy Heletey Valeriy Viktorovych Heletey (; born 28 August 1967) is a Ukrainian Colonel General who served as Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the par ...

stated that the battalion would be reorganised, would receive better equipment and would see more combat missions. Melnychuk has described that order as "criminal", but has admitted that most of Aidar's soldiers had demobilized or come under official control by 2015.Ukraine Struggles to Control Volunteer Fighter Squads

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through

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(29 July 2015) The battalion came to spotlight after several dozen of its members were killed in an ambush south of

Shchastia Shchastia (, , ; ) is a city, the former ''de jure'' administrative center of Shchastia Raion in the Luhansk Oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its population was reported as The Luhansk power station, a large power plant built in the 1950s, is loc ...

after the announcement of the ceasefire on 6 September 2014. Efforts at reorganization were made to gain better Government control over volunteer militias. On November 25, 2014, Lieutenant Colonel Yevgeny Ptashnyk was appointed as the new commander of the Aidar battalion

2015-2022

After the initial combat in 2014 the Ukrainian Government struggled to control volunteer battalions and sought to bring them under military command. In late January and early February 2015 the Battalion picketed several government buildings, in protest of the Ministry of Defense seeking greater control of the unit. These protests then escalated into clashes. The

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under the auspices of the illegally occupied

Donetsk People's Republic The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR; , ) is Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupied territory in Ukraine that the Russian Federation has claimed to annex and declared as a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia, comprising parts o ...

tried and convicted captured members of the Aidar Battallion. The Battallion was declared a terrorist organization by the illegitimate Government of DNR. The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced former Battalion commander to Denis Muryga to 16 years in prison. As of October 2018, the battalion had lost 130 soldiers killed in action. Aidar was formally disbanded on 2 March 2015 "to prevent illegal actions of some representatives of volunteer units" (according to the

General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine () is the military staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is the central organ of the Armed Forces Administration and oversees operational management of the armed forces under the Ministry of De ...

). After a "careful selection of soldiers", it was then reorganized as the 24th Separate Assault Battalion of the Ukrainian Army. Lieutenant Colonel Yevhen Ptashnik was appointed as commander of the battalion. The 24th Separate Assault Battalion was made part of the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade in January 2016. Later it became a part of the

53rd Mechanized Brigade The 53rd Mechanized Brigade named after Volodymyr Monomakh is a brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, subordinated to Operational Command East. History In 2014, the brigade was formed in the village of Nova Liubomyrka in Rivne Oblast. The b ...

.Ivan Dediukh killed by landmine explosion near Starohnativka, Donetsk Obl on June 27

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via

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(28 June 2020)

Russian-Ukrainian War

The Aidar Battalion was ordered to hold a defensive line near the city of Volnovakha when the full scale russian invasion began in 2022. Russian forces began shelling the area on February 22nd but the Aidar Battalion reported engagements on February 18th. By February 26, the Russian assault lead by the russian backed Donetsk People’s Republic 100 Brigade encountered brigade’s T-64BV tank battalion and the attached 24th “Aidar” Assault infantry battalion of Ukraine’s 53rd Mechanized Brigade. In March multiple soldiers of the Battalion were captured by the Russian military. Volnovakha was seized by the 163^rd Tank Regiment (from 150th Motor-Rifle Division) and the DPR's 11^th Motor Rifle Regiment. After the initial conflicts the 53rd Mechanized Brigade was transferred to the grueling nine month battle for Bakhmut. The Battalion had success against Russian assualts in Bakhmut assisted by new drone technology. The battalion helped to innovate many methods for using drones during trench warfare. In May 2023 Aidar helped overtake Russian positions in Klischiivka near Bakhmut. The Russian Government, again under the guise of the DNR put 18 Aidar Battalion soldiers on trial in June 2023. On April 24, 2024 the Battalion was involved in battles near Chasiv Yar. Aidar captured four Russian soldiers with the 1st Battalion of the 102nd Regiment of the 150th Motor Rifle Division of the Russian Army. In April 2025 the Russian Federation sentenced the captured Battallion figthers to 15 to 17 years, The Aidar Prisoners were tried under Russian terrorism laws given the illegal annexation of Luhank and Donetsk.

Battalion Structure

The Aidar Battalion consisted of volunteers from

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Chernihiv Chernihiv (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within the oblast. Chernihiv's population is The city was designated as a Hero City of Ukraine ...

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administra ...

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

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and

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regions. It included a member of the Luhansk Oblast's legislature, a former mayor of Oleksandrivsk, and self-defense activists from the

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protests in Kyiv. In June 2014, it had around 400 members. The battalion had several subdivisions: * Kholodnyi Yar * Company "West" * Afgan company * Volyn company * Autorota * Golden company * Gregory Makles Company

Notable Members

Yuriy Chornomorets, a noted Ukrainian theology Professor at Dragomanov University, first enrolled in territorial defense of Kyiv’s Holosiyiv District but was transferred as a Sniper to the Aidar Battalion. Yuri received a radiation dose fighting in the Chernobyl Zone that left him medically unable to continue his military service. Chonomorets now fundraises and purchases rifles for a variety of units in Ukraine.

Awards and Accommodations

By the Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 640/2014 on August 8, 2014, the head of the medical service of the military unit V0624 BTO "Aidar" a senior lieutenant of the medical service, Gorobets Ruslan Nikolaevich. was awarded Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi of the III degree. Junior Sergeant Kolesnik Andrey Mikhailovich (posthumously) and soldier Khamraev Rust Shofiyozovich (posthumously) — the Order "For Courage" By the Decree of the President of Ukraine of February 26, 2015, he was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi III degree of commander of the 1st company (sales officer) Slobodenyuk Pylyp Arkadiyovych As of August 24, 2015, 168 battalion fighters were awarded state awards, of which 65 were posthumously. During 2022-2023, two servicemen of the battalion received the title of "Hero of Ukraine": Yakovenko Oleksandr Oleksiiovych and Kovalenko Oleksandr Volodymyrovych. In October 2023, the President of Ukraine celebrated the 24th separate assault battalion "Aidar" with the insignia "For Courage and Courage"

Allegations and Criticisms

The Aidar Battalion, before being incorporated into the Ukrainian military, has been accused of war crimes, far-right ideology.

Human Rights Violations

In 2014,

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

reported that members of the Aidar Battalion had committed war crimes during the war in Donbas. In July 2014, Russia began a criminal investigation of Aidar's commander, Serhiy Melnychuk, for "organizing the killing of civilians". Its volunteer pilot,

Nadiya Savchenko Nadiya Viktorivna Savchenko (; born 11 May 1981) is a Ukrainian politician, former Army aviation pilot in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and former People's Deputy of Ukraine. During the 2014 War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, Savchen ...

, was captured by pro-Russian separatists near

, transported to Russia and charged with killing two Russian journalists. On 8 September 2014

claimed that the battalion had committed

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

, including abductions, unlawful detention, ill-treatment, theft, extortion, and possible executions. On 24 December 2014, Amnesty International reported that the unit was blocking humanitarian aid from Ukraine reaching the population of the separatist-controlled areas. Over half the population in these areas depended on food aid. According to Amnesty International, the Aidar,

Donbas The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...

and Dnipro-1 battalions said they are blocking the aid because they "believe food and clothing are ending up in the wrong hands and may be sold instead of being given as humanitarian aid".Amnesty International
''Eastern Ukraine: Humanitarian disaster looms as food aid blocked'', 24 December 2014. Denis Krivosheev, acting Director of Europe and Central Asia for Amnesty International, stated that starving civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime. In April 2015, the Ukrainian government-appointed Governor of Luhansk

Hennadiy Moskal Hennadiy Hennadiyovych Moskal (; 11 December 1950 – 17 March 2024) was a Ukrainian politician who served as governor of Zakarpattia Oblast from 2015 to 2019.

Far-Right Ideology

Before the Unit was disbanded and formally incorporated into the military some far-right personalities joined the Battalion. Two Swedish neo-Nazis from the Svenskarnas parti joined Aidar in 2013 and 2014 and made headlines in the Swedish and German media, since one of the Nazis was running for a local council in elections, and the same media heavily criticized the Nazi volunteers. According to Huseyn Aliyev, a political scientist at the

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, after the 2015 reogranization into the formal military, the battalion's radical right-wing ideology had "toned down", and the ideology of it along with other volunteer battalions in Ukraine was best described as "nationalist-patriotic".

Political Corruption

In the

2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an un ...

, former Aidar commander became a member of the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

representing the

Radical Party of Oleh Lyashko The Radical Party of Oleh Liashko (; RPL), formerly known as the Ukrainian Radical-Democratic Party (), is a political party in Ukraine. It was registered in September 2010. It was primarily known for its radical populism, especially in 2014, whe ...

; he ranked third on the party's election list. The commander of Aidar's second company,

Ihor Lapin Ihor Lapin (born 28 May 1969) is a Ukrainian lawyer and politician who is a former (2014–2019) member of the Parliament of Ukraine The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameral parliament of Ukrain ...

, was an MP for People's Front after winning a

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seat in

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in the same election. Neither was reelected in the

2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 21 July 2019. Originally scheduled to be held at the end of October, the elections were brought forward after newly inaugurated President of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dissolved parli ...

(Melnychuk failed to win a seat in an electoral district in Novomoskovsk with 0.31% of the votes and Lapin was not high enough on the election list (placed 49th) of

European Solidarity European Solidarity (, ; , YeS) is a political party in Ukraine. It has its roots in a parliamentary group called Solidarity dating from 2000 and has existed since in various forms as a political outlet for Petro Poroshenko. The party with its the ...

to get elected). On 8 August 2014 Ukraine's Defense Minister

through

(29 July 2015) On October 10, 2015, The Prosecutor General's Office transferred to the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiva warrant charging Melnychuk, the former commander "Aidar" and current deputy of the Verkhovna Rada for his part robbery, kidnapping, misappropriation of a vehicle and the use of violence against law enforcement officers.

Publications by Battalion Members

* ''Eagle I.'' Chronicle of one battalion. Kharkiv, 2016; * ''Gladka K., Gromakov D., Mironova V. et al.'' Grabbing. 2nd type., rework. and supplement. Kharkiv, 2017. * ''Derkach, Sergey.'' Fourth toast (interview on linnia). — Vinnytsia: Console, 2018. — 463 p. — ISBN 978-617-583-238-7 * ''Moroz, Sergey.'' Aidar is the summer of 14. Diary of Gorets (memories of an ordinary soldier). — Lviv: Levada, 2020. — 155 p. — ISBN 978-617-7527-71-7

Gallery

File:March of Ukraine's Defenders on Independence Day in Kyiv, 2019 219.jpg File:March of Ukraine's Defenders on Independence Day in Kyiv, 2019 316.jpg File:March of Ukraine's Defenders on Independence Day in Kyiv, 2019 318.jpg File:March of Ukraine's Defenders on Independence Day in Kyiv, 2019 345.jpg Veterans of the Battalion on the March of Defenders.

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

, 24 July 2019

Notes

References

External links

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Territorial defence battalions of Ukraine Luhansk Oblast in the Russo-Ukrainian War Military units and formations established in 2014 2014 establishments in Ukraine Far-right politics in Ukraine Organizations designated as terrorist by Russia