The 1st Special Purpose "Safari" Assault Police Regiment is a regiment of the Liut Brigade of the

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 ...

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

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, ...

. It was established in 2022 in the wake of 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 ...

and has, since then seen regular combat on the frontlines.

History

In February 2022, following the

, the

National Police of Ukraine The National Police of Ukraine (, ; /NPU ), often simply referred to as the (), is the national, and only, police service of Ukraine. It was formed on 3 July 2015, as part of the post-Euromaidan reforms launched by Ukrainian president Petro Por ...

established the Special Purpose Regiment "Safari" to take part in the

Northern Ukraine campaign The northern Ukraine campaign was a theater of operation in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It involved attacks by Russia across the Russo-Ukrainian and Belarusian–Ukrainian borders, beginning on 24 February 2022, for control of Kyiv, the ...

, especially in the Battle of Kyiv, the regiment included KORD and TOR fighters, as well as explosive specialists. On 2 April 2022, the Russian forces retreated from Kyiv, and the Safari regiment was deployed to conduct a clearance operation to eliminate all remaining Russian forces in the aftermath of the

Battle of Bucha The battle of Bucha was part of the Kyiv offensive (2022), Kyiv offensive in the Russian invasion of Ukraine for control of the city of Bucha, Kyiv Oblast, Bucha. The combatants were elements of the Russian Armed Forces and Ukrainian Ground Forc ...

. In April 2022, the regiment was taking part in the Battle of Kharkiv facing its first casualties. On 22 May 2022, the base of Safari regiment in

Zaporizhzhia Oblast Zaporizhzhia Oblast (), commonly referred to as Zaporizhzhia (), is an oblast (region) in south-east Ukraine. Its administrative centre is the city of Zaporizhzhia. The oblast covers an area of , and has a population of The oblast is an import ...

was hit by a Russian missile strike killing 23 servicemen and wounding multiple more. However, the identity of only two fallen servicemen in the missile strike (Oleiynyk Vitaly Viktorovych and Vladyslav Ihorovych Klischuk) was disclosed. In August 2022, the regiment's positions were shelled by Russian

BM-21 Grad The BM-21 "Grad" () is a self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union. The system and the M-21OF rocket were first developed in the early 1960s, and saw their first combat use in March 1969 during the Sino-S ...

s. In October 2022, the regiment's personnel captured the village of Yampil. Throughout 2022, the regiment was deployed 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 ...

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 ...

Zhytomyr Oblast Zhytomyr Oblast (), also referred to as Zhytomyrshchyna (), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Zhytomyr. Its population is approximately H ...

Makariv Makariv () is a rural settlement in Bucha Raion, in Kyiv Oblast (province) of Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Makariv settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The population of the settlement is , down from 12,042 in 2001. ...

Sumy Oblast Sumy Oblast (), also known as Sumshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in northeast Ukraine. The oblast was created in its modern-day form, from the merging of raions from Kharkiv Oblast, Chernihiv Oblast, and Poltava Oblast in 1939 by the Presid ...

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in eastern Ukraine. Kharkiv borders Luhansk Oblast to the east, Donetsk Oblast to the southeast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the southwest, Poltava Oblast to the w ...

and

Okhtyrka Okhtyrka (, ; ) is a city in Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Okhtyrka Raion within the oblast. Okhtyrka was once home to Hussars and Cossacks. It was also in the past a regional seat of the Sloboda Ukraine Imperia ...

. On 2 February 2023, the Safari regiment was reorganized into the 1st Special Purpose "Safari" Assault Police Regiment of the consolidated Liut Brigade. The Safari regiment HQ is located in

but in March 2023, a secondary base was established in

. In July 2023, the Safari regiment was deployed to take part in the

Eastern Ukraine campaign Ukraine's easternmost oblasts, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv, have been the site of an ongoing theatre of operation since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The battle of Donbas was a major offensive in the easter ...

conducting assault operations in Kurdyumivka, Andriivka, and

Klishchiivka Klishchiivka, known as Karlivka until 1945, is a village in Bakhmut Raion, Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It is located about north by east ( NbE) of the centre of Donetsk and about south-southwest ( SSW) of Bakhmut, it also belongs to Bakh ...

. In August 2023, the regiment captured a settlement from the Russian troops successfully killing 5 Russian soldiers and wounding 10 more and then conducted a clearance operation in the area. In September 2024, the regiment was fighting against Russian troops during the

Battle of Toretsk The battle of Toretsk is an ongoing engagement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine between the Russian Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of Ukraine for control of the city of Toretsk and the settlements in the surrounding area, beginning on 18 ...

facing some wounded. The regiment's soldiers also destroyed several buildings in

Toretsk Toretsk (; ) is an industrial city in Bakhmut Raion, Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It served as the administrative center of Toretsk urban hromada. As of January 2022, its population was approximately It has its origins as the hamlet Shcher ...

to halt the Russian assault.

Tasks

* Working in cooperation with units 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

Main Directorate of Intelligence (Ukraine) The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (), also known in English as the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU), is the military intelligence service of the Ukrainian government. It is an agency of the Minist ...

, 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 ...

, the

State Border Guard Service of Ukraine The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine ( SBGSU; , ; ) is the border guard of Ukraine. It is an independent law enforcement agency, organized by the Constitution of Ukraine as a military formation, the head of which is subordinated to the Pres ...

and other components of Ukrainian defense forces in repelling and deterring armed aggression against Ukraine * Carrying out

Shock and awe Shock and awe (technically known as rapid dominance) is a military strategy based on the use of overwhelming power and spectacular displays of force to paralyze the enemy's perception of the battlefield and destroy their will to fight. Though ...

assault and reconnaissance operations * Stabilization of the situations during an armed conflict or an emergency * Organization and implementation of measures for

Search and Rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

operations * Protection of Ukrainian territorial integrity * Detection and diffusion of explosives * Countersabotage operations * Aerial reconnaissance and

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

strikes on the territories occupied by "enemy" forces * Ground maneuvers to support simultaneous and consecutive strikes on "enemy" positions using a variety of equipment. * Destruction of "enemy" equipment and manpower * Conducting clearance and stabilization operations in captured territory * Tactical assaults to break the "enemy" defensive lines

Commanders

* Lieutenant Colonel Maksym Ihorovych Kochenko

References

{{Special police detachments in Ukraine Military units and formations established in 2022 2022 establishments in Ukraine Military units and formations of Ukraine in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Regiments of Ukraine Special tasks patrol police of Ukraine