Luhansk Assault Regiment (), formerly known as the Luhansk-1 Battalion, is a

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

unit of the

Liut Brigade The Liut Brigade (, also spelled Lyut), is an assault brigade of the National Police of Ukraine formed on January 13, 2023, as a merger of three Special Purpose units from the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas. History Formation Dur ...

History

Creation

In April 2014, the Head of the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

, Arsen Avakov, issued an order to form volunteer

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s from citizens loyal to Ukraine, especially in

Eastern Ukraine Eastern Ukraine or East Ukraine (; ) is primarily the territory of Ukraine east of the Dnipro (or Dnieper) river, particularly Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts (provinces). Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts are often also regarded as ...

. On May 8, 2014, the ministry officially created the "Luhansk-1" battalion from volunteer soldiers to fight in the raging

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 ...

. When the battalion first created, around 80% were residents of

Luhansk Oblast Luhansk Oblast (; ), also referred to as Luhanshchyna (), is the easternmost Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the n ...

. On August 10, another 200 volunteers were added to the battalion. According to the commander Artem Vitko, the battalion had only light arms in the early months, and only had basic equipment such as

pistols A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a barrel with an integral chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the English language when early handguns ...

submachine guns A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an automa ...

, and

light machine guns A light machine gun (LMG) is a light-weight machine gun designed to be operated by a single infantryman, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. LMGs firing cartridges of the same caliber as the other riflemen of the ...

. In September, the battalion's equipment improved, adding weapons such as the

RPG-7 The RPG-7 is a portable, reusable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank, rocket launcher. The RPG-7 and its predecessor, the RPG-2, were designed by the Soviet Union, and are now manufactured by the Russian company Bazalt. The weapon has t ...

AGS-17 The AGS-17 Plamya ( Russian: Пламя; ''Flame'') is a Soviet-designed automatic grenade launcher in service worldwide. Description The AGS-17 is a heavy infantry support weapon designed to operate from a tripod or mounted on an installation ...

, and even

BRDM-2 The BRDM-2 (''Boyevaya Razvedyvatelnaya Dozornaya Mashina'', Боевая Разведывательная Дозорная Машина, literally "Combat Reconnaissance/Patrol Vehicle") is an amphibious armoured scout car designed and developed ...

armored vehicles.

War in Donbas

On August 1, 2014, the battalion engaged in battle against pro-Russian militants in

Severodonetsk Sievierodonetsk or Severodonetsk, officially since 2024 Siverskodonetsk, is a city in Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It is located to the northeast of the left bank of the Donets river and approximately to the northwest from the administrativ ...

, killing 15 of them. Later on August 27, "Luhansk-1" was part of a military operation to clear areas in

Slovianoserbsk Raion Slovianoserbsk Raion () was a raion (district) in Luhansk Oblast of eastern Ukraine. The raion was abolished on 18 July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Luhansk Oblast to eight with the Ra ...

, killing in total an estimate of 40 enemy soldiers. On September 4, public activists donated an

armored vehicle Military vehicles are commonly armoured (or armored; see spelling differences) to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, shells, rockets, and missiles, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fighti ...

to the battalion to support their operations. On September 8, the battalion captured enemy positions near the city of Pervomaisk. On October 31, the battalion announced the search for Mykhailo Porechenkov because of his efforts in helping pro-Russian forces in Ukraine. On May 20, 2020, Colonel Serhii Gubanov, the commander the battalion, received shrapnel wounds due to enemy shelling. He died while on the way to a hospital, near the village of Trokhizbenka. In September 2020, the personnel of the battalion was called up due to fires from enemy shelling in

Russian invasion of Ukraine

On February 24, 2022, the

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 ...

began. The city 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 ...

, where the battalion was stationed in, immediately came under attack. However, their efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, and the city was soon occupied. The battalion then moved to near the city of

to continue fighting. They also fought in nearby

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 ...

and

Rubizhne Rubizhne (, ; , ) is a city in Luhansk Oblast, in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Situated on the left bank of the Donets River near the cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. Prior to 2020, it was a city of oblast significance, befor ...

, before both also fell into Russian control. Following eventual Ukrainian defeats at the battles at

and

Lysychansk Lysychansk ( , ; , ; , ) is a city in Sievierodonetsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It is located on the high right bank of the Donets River, approximately from the administrative center of the oblast, Luhansk. It faces Sievierodonet ...

, the battalion was again redeployed, this time to help Ukrainian forces in the

Battle of Bakhmut The battle of Bakhmut was a major battle between the Russian Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukrainian Armed Forces for control of the city of Bakhmut, during the eastern Ukraine campaign, a theatre of the Russian invasion of Uk ...

. By September 2022, the battalion helped carry out the hugely successful

Kharkiv counteroffensive On September 6, 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a major counteroffensive against the Russian military during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As Ukraine announced the start of the Kherson counteroffensive in southern Ukraine in late ...

, capturing villages including

Balakliya Balakliia or Balakliya (, ; ) is a city in the Izium Raion, Kharkiv Oblast, eastern Ukraine, on the northeast side of the Siverskyi Donets river close to where it is joined by the , which runs through the town. It is an important railroad junctio ...

, Verbivka, Novoselivka, and Stelmakhivka. In March 2023, the Luhansk-1 Battalion became part of the

. Then in October, the battalion was expanded into a

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

, gaining the current name Luhansk Assault Regiment. On December 28, 2023,

Ukrainian president The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

praised the work of the

, which the regiment is a part of. He specifically praised lieutenant Ivan Krotov and captain Mykhailo Glavatskyi for their battlefield bravery. In the spring of 2024, the regiment were part of the Ukrainian forces defending the city of

Chasiv Yar Chasiv Yar (, ) is a city in Bakhmut Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is located west of Bakhmut and is the center of Chasiv Yar urban hromada. In January 2022, it had a population of 12,250, though RBC News claimed the population in May 20 ...

against Russian assaults.

References

{{Reflist Military units and formations established in 2014 2014 establishments in Ukraine Military units and formations of Ukraine in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Regiments of Ukraine