The Carpathian Sich 49th Infantry Battalion is a unit 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 ...

established in May 2022. It previously existed from 2014 to 2016.

History

Following the beginning of the

war in Donbas The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...

Oleh Kutsyn Oleh Ivanovych Kutsyn (; 23 November 1965 – 19 June 2022) was a Ukrainian public, political and military figure who was head of the "Legion of Freedom" of the Svoboda (political party), Svoboda party. He was also commander of the 49th Infan ...

organised a group of volunteers dedicated to providing aid to Ukrainian soldiers. In the summer of 2014, the volunteers joined the

National Guard of Ukraine The National Guard of Ukraine (NGU; , ; /NHU ) 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 dire ...

. On 23 May 2015, they officially became part of the

Armed Forces of Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

. The same year, they participated in the

Second Battle of Donetsk Airport 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 Donet ...

, the

Battle of Debaltseve The Battle of Debaltseve was a military confrontation in the city of Debaltseve, Donetsk Oblast, between the pro-Russian separatist forces of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), and the Ukrainian Armed Forc ...

, and the Battle of Marinka. However, on 13 April 2016, the Carpathian Sich Battalion was disbanded. Kutsyn claimed he had been deceived by the leadership of the 93rd Mechanised Brigade, which it had subordinated itself to under the condition that it was permitted to remain in the Donbas. 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 ...

disputed this, saying the volunteer battalion had been dissolved to bring the Armed Forces of Ukraine up to the standards of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, and that Carpathian Sich Battalion members had been given the offer to join other units.

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Following the beginning of 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 ...

, Kutsyn re-founded the battalion with other former members. The new battalion fought in

Kyiv Oblast Kyiv Oblast (, ), also called Kyivshchyna (, ), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, which is administered as a city with special sta ...

, at the battles of

Irpin Irpin (, ) is a city on the Irpin River in Bucha Raion, Kyiv Oblast, northern Ukraine. It is located next to the capital Kyiv. Irpin hosts the administration of Irpin urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The city has a population o ...

, Bucha,

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, and

Brovary Brovary (, ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Kyiv Oblast, northern Ukraine, situated to the east of the capital Kyiv and part of the Kyiv metropolitan area. It serves as the administrative centre of Brovary Raion. Brovary hosts t ...

. On 4 April 2022, two Czech volunteers of the Battalion were arrested by Police officers after they had

looted Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

houses in

. According to the battalion's lawyer, Olena Rozvadovska, what the two Czechs had looted included women's and children's jewelry, and up to half a kilogram of silver and gold. On 6 August 2024, Filip Siman, one of the two Czech volunteers, was sentenced by a Czech court to 7 years in prison for looting. Following the successful repulsion of the Russian offensive on Kyiv by Ukrainian forces, the battalion again became an official part of the

Ukrainian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

on 19 May 2022. It was then sent to the eastern theatre of the war, where it fought on the Izium front. There, Kutsyn was killed by Russian forces on 19 June 2022. The battalion is now commanded by a 58-year old, formerly retired career soldier, who uses the

code name A code name, codename, 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 ...

Swat. During the Ukrainian Kharkiv counteroffensive, the battalion was on the forefront of the fighting at Izium and Lyman, both strategically important cities, to provide flanking support. On 10 September 2022, the battalion advanced from its positions in the village of Virnopillia towards Izium. In the village of , just south of Izium, units of the battalion captured members of Russia's 423rd Motor Rifle Regiment. On October 3, 2022, they seized an additional settlement to the east, secured a series of dams, and more settlements in northern Donetsk province. As of 4 January 2023, the battalion was deployed on the Luhansk Oblast front, near the city of

Kreminna Kreminna (, ) is a city in Sievierodonetsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. Prior to 2020, it served as the administrative center of former Kreminna Raion. Its population was estimated at as of January 2022. Following the Russian invasio ...

. In April 2024, Captain Yevhen Skoryna of Karpatska Sich received the “Gold Star” and “Combat Merit Cross” from President Zelensky for participating in the defense of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions.

Ideology

Bellingcat Bellingcat (stylised bell¿ngcat) is a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group that specialises in fact-checking and open-source intelligence (OSINT). It was founded by British citizen journalist and former blogger Eliot Higgins in Ju ...

defined the Carpathian Sich as "neo-Nazi". The group was involved in the attacks against the KyivPride and urged its members to buy a copy of the manifesto of the perpetrator of the

Christchurch mosque shootings Two consecutive mass shootings took place in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 15 March 2019. They were committed by a single perpetrator during Friday prayer, first at the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton, at 1:40p.m. and almost immediately afterwards ...

, encouraging them to "get inspired" by it. The text adopted by the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

resolution of 25 October 2018 on the "Rise of neo-fascist violence in Europe", some Ukrainian far-right groups, including the Carpathian Sich, are condemned, for having "attacked Roma groups several times, as well as anti-fascist demonstrations, city council meetings, an event hosted by Amnesty International, art exhibitions, LGBTQI events, women’s rights and environmental activists".

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:49th Infantry Battalion (Ukraine) Military units and formations established in 2014 Military units and formations disestablished in 2016 Military units and formations established in 2022 Military units and formations of Ukraine in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Battalions of Ukraine Military units and formations of Ukraine in the war in Donbas

History

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Ideology

See also

Notes

References