The "Dnipro-1" Regiment () is a

Special Tasks Patrol Police The Special Police Forces () is a Ukrainian volunteer corps of law enforcement units, part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. History In April 2014, Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov issued an order to create battali ...

regiment subordinated to

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine (; ; ) is the Ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of Ukraine, Ukrainian government that oversees the interior affairs of Ukraine. History Name *People's Committee of Internal ...

. The regiment is based in

Dnipro Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

. The Dnipro-1 was one the first official

Ukrainian volunteer battalions Ukrainian volunteer battalions (, more formally , or abbreviated ) were militias and Paramilitary, paramilitary groups mobilized as a response to the perceived state of weakness and unwillingness of the regular Armed Forces of Ukraine, Armed Forc ...

to be created. The unit also had a

football club In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...

of the

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( ) or UPL is a professional association football league in Ukraine and the highest level of the Ukrainian football league system. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha ( , ) it was formed in 1991 during the 1992 in ...

named

SC Dnipro-1 SC Dnipro-1 () was a professional Ukrainian football club from Dnipro. While not officially a successor of FC Dnipro, SC Dnipro-1 took over all of the infrastructure of the former club including its academy. Founded in November 2015, SC Dnipr ...

, named after the unit.

History

The unit was first established as "Dnipro-1" Special Tasks Patrol Police Battalion in April 2014 on a voluntary basis as the response to

2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine From the end of February 2014, in the aftermath of the Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity, which resulted in the ousting of Russian-leaning President of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, demonstrations by Russian-backed, ...

. Its assignments included duties at multiple checkpoints in the south-eastern part of Ukraine.The Town Determined to Stop Putin
''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

'' (12 June 2014) The unit claimed to have hired

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n and Georgian military advisers to help with the training of troops. Before June 2014 this training was often just one week. It first operated outside

Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in simultaneously southern, eastern and central Ukraine, the most important industrial region of the country. It was created on February 27, 1932. Dnipropetro ...

in May 2014.Ukraine's Secret Weapon: Feisty Oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky
''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' (June 27, 2014) The militia unit, nicknamed Kolomoyskyi's battalion, was funded by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and also through the charitable organization "Fund Dnipro-1".

Ukrainian oligarch Ukrainian oligarchs () are business oligarchs who emerged on the economic and political scene of Ukraine after the 1991 Ukrainian independence referendum. This period saw Ukraine transitioning to a market economy, with the rapid privatization of s ...

Ihor Kolomoyskyi Ihor Valeriyovych Kolomoyskyi (; ; born 13 February 1963) is a Ukrainian-born Israeli billionaire businessman, once considered the leading oligarch in Ukraine. Already an entrepreneur in the last years of Soviet Ukraine, in 2010 Kolomoyskyi w ...

(who was Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast during the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine) is believed to have spent $10 million to create the unit. Commander of the unit Yuriy Bereza is since 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 ...

a member of the

Ukrainian parliament The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovna Rada building in Ukraine's capi ...

for the People's Front; he was placed 10th on the party's election list.Poroshenko Bloc to have greatest number of seats in parliament
,

Ukrainian Television and Radio UTR () was a Ukrainian state owned TV channel targeting a foreign Ukrainian-speaking audience. Programming is provided with English subtitles. The channel is broadcast via satellite in Eurasia and North America, with a high quality signal avail ...

(8 November 2014)
People's Front 0.33% ahead of Poroshenko Bloc with all ballots counted in Ukraine elections - CEC
,

Interfax-Ukraine Interfax-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 1992, the company publishes in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German. The company owns a 50-seat press centre. The staff of the agency is 105 people (as of the end of February 2022) ...

(8 November 2014)
Poroshenko Bloc to get 132 seats in parliament - CEC

(8 November 2014) Member of the unit

Volodymyr Parasyuk Volodymyr Zinoviyovych Parasyuk (; born 9 July 1987) is a Ukrainian military commander and politician who served as a People's Deputy of Ukraine from 27 November 2014 to 29 August 2019. Previously, he served as a member of the Dnipro Battal ...

was also elected into parliament during these elections by winning the electoral district of

Yavoriv Yavoriv (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine. It is situated about from the Poland, Polish border. It serves as the administrative centre of Yavoriv Raion and is situated approximately west of the oblast capital, Lviv. Yavoriv ...

with 56.56% of the votes.Candidates and winner for the seat in constituency 122 in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election
,

RBK Ukraine RBC-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 2006 as a division of the Russian media holding RBC Group (short for RosBusinessConsulting), it left in 2010 and in 2015 it completely came under the control of Ukrainian media businessman Yo ...

Volodymyr Parasyuk very short bio
,

Video of first brawl in Verkhovna Rada becomes a YouTube hit
''

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is Ukraine’s first and most prominent English-language newspaper. It was founded in 1995 in Kyiv by American businessman Jed Sunden. In 2018, the publication was acquired by prominent Ukrainian businessman Adnan Kivan, foun ...

'' (5 December 2014) The unit was involved in the liberation of Lyman during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Human rights violations and war crimes

* Reports (2016) published by the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Univers ...

documented a worrying case of punitive damage to property in Donetsk by members of the armed groups targeting the house of a member of the Government-affiliated 'Dnipro-1' battalion. "On 20 January, a group of ‘Dnipro-1’ battalion members raided a house in Avdiivka, severely beating a man, subjecting him to asphyxiation with a plastic bag and mock execution." * From the reports (2016) by Global Rights Compliance LLP: "For example, < UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine> has documented specific allegations of enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and ill-treatment by the members of volunteer battalions such as " Aydar", "Dnipro-1", " Kyiv-1" and " Kyiv-2"; "The Volodymyr Kulmatytsky case gives rise to similar questions concerning the absence of war crimes charges. The accused persons in this case were charged with illegal confinement (Article 146(2)) and illegally handling arms (Article 263(1)). It is alleged that Mr Kulmatytsky, former deputy mayor of

Sloviansk Sloviansk is a city in Donetsk Oblast, northern part of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. The city was known as ''Tor'' until 1784. While it did not actually belong to the raion itself, Sloviansk served as the administrative center of the S ...

, was kidnapped by three soldiers and one commander (Mr. A) of the Battalion Dnipro-1 (Ukrainian police) and murdered later that day by Mr. A. Mr. A was informed that Mr. Kulmatytsky was involved in financing DPR formations". * On 24 December 2014, Amnesty International reported that the unit was blocking humanitarian aid sent from Ukraine by another Ukrainian oligarch

Rinat Akhmetov Rinat Leonidovych Akhmetov (born 21 September 1966) is a Ukrainian billionaire and businessman. He is the founder and president of international investment group System Capital Management (SCM), and is the wealthiest man in Ukraine. Akhmetov i ...

reaching the population in the separatist-controlled areas; over half the population in these areas depend on food aid. The reason the aid was being blocked by the

, Aidar and

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 ...

battalions is that the battalions "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", Amnesty International 24 December 2014. Denis Krivosheev, acting Director of Europe and Central Asia for Amnesty International, stated that "using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a

war crime 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 hostage ...

Structure

* Management & Headquarters * 1st Armored Company * 2nd Infantry Company * 3rd Aerorozvidka Group * 4th Kryvbas Company * 5th Donetsk-1 Company * 6th Krym Company

References

External links

Volunteer detachments fighting in Donbas
(archived) {{War in Donbas Donetsk Oblast in the Russo-Ukrainian War Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in the Russo-Ukrainian War Special tasks patrol police of Ukraine Military units and formations established in 2014 2014 establishments in Ukraine Military history of Dnipro