The 10th Special Forces "Shaman" Battalion is a Ukrainian military unit, part of the

spetsnaz SpetsnazThe term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or () are special forces in many post-Soviet states. Historically, this term referred to the Soviet Union's Spet ...

units of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine formed in 2022 as a response to 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 ...

. Named for its secretive nature, the battalion was formed by veterans of the

War in Donbass 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 began in April 2014, when Russian paramilitaries seized several towns. Ukraine's military launched an operation ...

and the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

, it has successfully liberated several occupied villages during the fighting, later also taking part in counter offensives and sabotage operations, becoming one of the more high-profile special units in the war.

History

The battalion was established on 23 February 2022 but the battalion commander, as well as many other personnel have been active in combat since 2014 during the

, as well as fighting alongside American and British forces as part of

ISAF The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 according to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined t ...

during the

and also participated in the withdrawal of allied forces during the Fall of Kabul. The Battalion's first encounter with Russian troops took place during the

Battle of Antonov Airport The battle of Antonov Airport, also known as the battle of Hostomel Airport, was a military engagement which occurred at the Hostomel Airport, Antonov Airport in Hostomel, Kyiv Oblast, during the Northern front of the Russian invasion of Ukrai ...

and the

Battle of Hostomel During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a military engagment was fought for control over the town of Hostomel between the Russian and Ukrainian armed forces. As part of an offensive on Kyiv, the Russian forces sought control over Hostomel, Buch ...

The first fights were in civilian sneakers, a jacket, and a hat. ..My group gathered - people who had once served and returned. They immediately rushed into battle. Of course, there was no coordination. We checked the weapons during the smoke breaks between battles. It was fun.

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 ...

reported that special forces and local resistance units had destroyed 20 Russian

BMD-3 The BMD-3 (''Boyevaya Mashina Desanta '', ) is a light infantry fighting vehicle originating in the Soviet Union that is fully amphibious and air-droppable with crew inside. It is intended to be used by airborne and air assault units. It is no ...

and

BMD-4 The BMD-4 () is an amphibious infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) originating from post-Cold War Russia. Originally designated as the BMD-3M, the chassis of the BMD-4 is the same as that of the BMD-3 because it was developed on the same basis. This ...

s in Hostomel. Ten more BMDs were destroyed near the city's glass factory.

The battle at the Hostomel Glass Factory was not just the work of my unit. There were guys from other units there, including the SSO, and for that I am very grateful. Our cooperation was a explosive mixture. There was a brutal massacre. If it weren’t for the civilians who had been wounded and killed during the mortar shelling, we might have taken prisoners. But they drove up to the checkpoint in their BMDs, and no one wanted to take prisoners. The enemy relied on the power of their weapons and decided to storm the improvised checkpoint at full speed. They didn’t know that we had come up with the idea of going to the crossroads with the forces that were there. Most likely, they thought that there were unprepared troops there. But unprepared doesn't mean unmotivated. The guys from the Territorial Defense Forces are enthusiastically doing things that many specialists would never have dreamed of.

A few days later, the Foreign Legion of the Main Intelligence Directorate arrived to help the "Shaman" battalion. On 2 March 2022, fighters from the Shaman Battalion assisted with evacuation of the wounded personnel and also took part in 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 ...

. The battalion's fighters also carried out several successful sabotage operations during the

Battle of Irpin As part of the Russian offensive on Kyiv during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a battle took place for control of the city of Irpin. The combatants were elements of the Russian Armed Forces and Ukrainian Ground Forces. By 28 March 2022 Ukrai ...

. From 5 to 21 March 2022, the battalion participated in the

Battle of Moshchun The battle of Moshchun was a series of military engagements for control of the village of Moshchun and its surroundings during the initial phase of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The battle lasted from 5 March to 21 March 2022, and has been ...

killing many Russian troops and destroying several pieces of equipment. There were 5 major engagements by the battalion in Moshchun at the distance from 20 to 70 meters. The "Shaman" battalion took part in engagements in the vanguard of the 72nd brigade. The battalion participated in all the important battles of 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 ...

and pushed back the Russians as retreated to Belarus through the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The battalion also prevented Russian troops from crossing the

Irpin River The Irpin () or Irpen () is a river in Ukraine, a right tributary of the Dnieper River. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . Irpin city is one of the urban settlements beside the river. Following the culmination of the Battle of Kyiv, Shaman fighters pursued the Russians and struck from the rear until they completed the retreat. On 8 May 2022, special forces participated in a helicopter landing and combat operations during the

Snake Island campaign The Snake Island campaign was a period of Russian occupation and military conflict for Snake Island, a small, strategically located Ukrainian island in the Black Sea. On 24 February 2022, the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the R ...

There were several attempts at landing, and the enemy more or less understood that we wanted to do it, but did not expect the landing and attack itself. We also destroyed them there quite well… The most difficult thing is making a decision. I call it “agreeing with yourself” with various types of arguments… At that time, there were a minimum of arguments. Everyone understood that this was a difficult operation, but no one could back down, because there was no one who would say no. And that was it.

Ignatenko Vitaliy Andriyovych and Zaitsev Oleg Grigorovich were killed in the assault on snake island. In spring of 2022, the battalion took part in the Battle of Sievierodonetsk.How one of Ukraine’s elite units fights at frontlines and in Russian rear
/ref> In October 2022, Shaman Battalion, together with the Kraken Regiment and the Ukrainian international Legion, participated in an attempt to liberate the Zaporizhzhia NPP on 30 boats. From December 2022 to March 2023, the “Shaman” battalion participated 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 ...

. The battalion also took part in the 2023 Belgorod Oblast incursions ambushing and killing a Russian military officer in a truck, it was the 10th high-profile killing of a Russian officer by the battalion which had already killed high-ranking officers like Colonel Vladimir Kuznetsov, commander of the 1009th motorized rifle regiment in an ambush near the Ukrainian border. In early August 2023, the battalion conducted several raids on the left bank of the

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 ...

near Kozachi Laheri as part of the Dnieper campaign along with Special Operations Forces, as well as the 222nd Battalion of the 126th Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces and were able to destroy a Russian missile defense system.

Symbolics

The unit's emblem and mascot "Ghost" is taken from the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley of the

Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter military video game series and media franchise published by Activision, starting in 2003. The games were first developed by Infinity Ward, then by Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games. Several spin-of ...

franchise.

The game “Call of Duty” clearly shows how people, breaking all stereotypes, go against the rules, against everyone and everything. In order to defeat and punish the evil that fills this world. We firmly believe that after being in our unit you end up in God's army, because there is nowhere higher and that is why the Lord takes the best of us to serve Him. Call it the KMB before the army of Doomsday, that is why this chevron is worn on the left arm - close to the heart. Because Honor and Fidelity are the main qualities that we always adhere to.

Personnel

The battalion is highly secretive in its operations and the names of its fighters are not usually disclosed, currently only some of the call signs of the battalion's fighters are known: "Shaman", "Sidney", "22", "Krasivy", "Philosopher", "KD", "Vityaz", "Chechen", "Domovoy".

Tasks

The unit is specially skilled in diving, parachuting, and mountaineering operations. The primary task of the Shaman battalion is to "destroy infrastructure that is vital to the Kremlin’s military operations". The battalion has conducted several secret raids into Russian territory, where special forces were dropped by helicopter at night, crossing the border at low altitude to conduct operations deep behind the enemy lines. The battalion's personnel have also undermined Russian columns from within by infiltrating the columns and then leading to their destruction. The battalion's personnel also conduct close reconnaissance, at times just a few dozen meters away from the Russians and could even hear what they were talking about. Directing artillery while behind the lines and attacking the Russian forces using grenade launchers from the rear are also among the battalion tasks. Its operations also involved

Mi-8 The Mil Mi-8 (, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) in the 1960s and introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1968. Russian production of t ...

and

Mi-26 The Mil Mi-26 (, NATO reporting name: Halo) is a Soviet Union, Soviet/Russian heavy Military transport helicopter, transport helicopter. Its product code is ''Izdeliye 90''. Operated by both military and civilian operators, it is the largest ...

helicopters of the Ukrainian Army Aviation.Meet The Shadowy Ukrainian Unit That Sabotages Targets Inside Russia
/ref>

Equipment

References

{{commons category, "Shaman" Battalion Military units and formations of Ukraine in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Military units and formations established in 2022 Ministry of Defence (Ukraine) Special forces of Ukraine Battalions of Ukraine