The Sparta Battalion () or 80th Separate Guards Reconnaissance Battalion "Sparta" named after A. S. Pavlov (; MUN 08806) is a special purpose unit of the

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Russian Ground Forces, Ground Forces, Russian Navy, Navy, and Russi ...

. Until 2023, the unit was part of Russian people's militia military unit of the Russian republic of

Donetsk People's Republic The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR; , ) is Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupied territory in Ukraine that the Russian Federation has claimed to annex and declared as a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia, comprising parts o ...

(DPR) in eastern

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The unit has been fighting against 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 ...

in the

Donbas war 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 ...

and the 2022 Russian invasion. Formed in 2014, it was initially led by the Russian-born Arsen Pavlov (callsign "Motorola") until his death in October 2016, and then by

Vladimir Zhoga Vladimir Artyomovich Zhoga (, ; 26 May 1993 – 5 March 2022), also known by his ''nom de guerre'' Vokha (), was a separatist who commanded the Sparta Battalion, a Russian separatist forces in Donbas, pro-Russian separatist force that is involv ...

(callsign "Vokha"), from Sloviansk, until his death in March 2022. The battalion took part in the Battle of Ilovaisk and

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 ...

and several others. According to ''

Foreign Policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

'', the Sparta Battalion has "a reputation for ruthlessness". It has committed war crimes in the Donbas. The battalion has been described as

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

ultranationalist Ultranationalism, or extreme nationalism, is an extremist form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its specific ...

, and the European Eye on Radicalization notes that it uses a combination of

Russian imperial The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

symbols and "symbols of the Spartan military culture, well-known drivers of the

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

History

Arsen Pavlov's Sparta unit was initially part to the 1st Slavyansk Brigade before being separated into its own reconnaissance battalion subordinate to the 1st Army Corps. According to Ukrainian and Russian sources, the battalion was formed in August 2014 in Donetsk, based on the previously existing anti-tank/ MG troop led by Pavlov which earlier reportedly participated in Battle of Ilovaisk along with Igor Strelkov's "volunteer" forces.

Battles during the Donbas war

In 2014, the battalion took part in the Battle of Ilovaisk. In 2015, it fought in the

, alongside other units of the DPR People's Militia. During this battle, its fighters were filmed capturing Ukrainian soldiers (who were later paraded through Donetsk, where they were attacked by locals), and transporting the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers. Pavlov made Ukrainian POWs carry the bodies of other Ukrainians because, he said, "it's not our job to recover dead bodies, it's our job to make them." In January 2015, it participated in 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 ...

. In March 2016, it was in the armed skirmish in Dokuchaievsk. In September 2016, the group was deployed into Lugansk People's Republic, with the stated aim of preventing an anticipated

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

. In late 2016, it was deployed at Sergey Prokofiev airport in Donetsk.

During the Russian invasion

In autumn 2022, the Sparta Battalion participated in the capture of the village of Opytne alongside the 1st Slavyansk Brigade. The battalion took part in: * Battle of Avdiivka (2022) * Battle of Volnovakha *

Siege of Mariupol The siege of Mariupol began on 24 February 2022 and lasted until 20 May, as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It saw fighting between the Russian Armed Forces (alongside the Donetsk People's Republic People's Militia) and the Ukrainian ...

* Battle of Pisky *

Battle of Donbas (2022) The battle of Donbas was a military offensive that was part of the wider eastern Ukraine campaign of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The offensive began on 18 April 2022 between the armed forces of Russia and Ukraine for control of the Donbas ...

2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive In early June 2023, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine launched a Counter-offensive, counteroffensive against Russian forces Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupying its territory with a goal of breaching the front lines ...

Alleged war crimes

In February 2015, Ukrainian SSU started an investigation into allegations of

war crimes 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 hos ...

committed in January 2015 by the Battalion and its leader Arsen Pavlov, with charges including murder, bullying, torture and forcing people into slave labor. In April 2015 Russian deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

, Denis Krivosheev, blamed Pavlov for killing and torturing Ukrainian

POWs A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

captured at Donetsk airport. According to Krivosheev, Pavlov said in an interview to the ''

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 ...

'' that he killed Ukrainian who was prisoner of war at the time of his detention and who suffered several facial wounds and was not able to walk. In a controversial tape which was published on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

in April 2015 which features voices of both of the ''Kyiv Post'''s journalist and a voice allegedly belonging to Pavlov, with the latter claiming to have killed 15 prisoners when the journalist asked him about Branovitsky, saying “I’ve shot 15 prisoners. I don't give a shit. No comment. I kill whoever I want.” Amnesty called for thorough investigation of the crime. A surviving Ukrainian POW interviewed by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

said he had seen Pavlov shooting Branovitsky. In June it was reported by a Ukraine official that

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

refused to put Pavlov on their wanted list on the grounds of the "political nature of the Motorola case". In 2016, a ''

Vice News Vice News (stylized as VICE News) is Vice Media's alternative current affairs channel, producing daily documentary essays and video through its website and YouTube channel. It promotes itself on its coverage of "under-reported stories". Vice Ne ...

'' journalist described being told by Sparta members about Ukrainian corpses still at Donetsk airport, which Sparta members had forced Ukrainian POWs to bury in 2014.

Structure

2015

Members' names were posted on

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on 5 April 2015 by Vyacheslav Abroskin, head of Donetsk Oblast's police. At least 40 names were listed. Its membership reportedly includes foreign fighters from

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

2022

In March 2022, the Battalion's commander Vladimir Zhoga was killed at

Volnovakha Volnovakha ( Ukrainian and Russian: , , ; ) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Volnovakha Raion within the oblast. As of January 2022, it had a population of The train station is a railway h ...

in the course 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 ...

. He was posthumously awarded the title of "Hero of the Russian Federation" by Russian president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

. The sub-units of the battalion are approximately following: * 1st Company * 2nd Reconnaissance Company ** The commander was killed during the Battle of Avdiivka on April 21, 2022

Ideology and symbols

German anti-

extremist Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied shar ...

news website ''Belltower'' described the militia as Russian ultranationalist and

irredentist Irredentism () is one state's desire to annex the territory of another state. This desire can be motivated by ethnic reasons because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to or the same as the population of the parent state. Hist ...

. The battalion flies the black-yellow-white flag of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and, according to the European Eye on Radicalization, the unit "uses a combination of symbols of the Spartan military culture, well-known drivers of the

, and from the Tsarist era". Its flag includes a letter M. According to a fighter interviewed by ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', this is "because it is dedicated to Motorola, our commander... a DPR hero". The Ukrainian newspaper ''

Segodnya ''Segodnya'' ( rus, Сегодня, p=sʲɪˈvodʲnʲə, t=Today, a=Ru-сегодня.ogg) was a Russian language, Russian-language Ukrainian tabloid newspaper founded in 1997. The newspaper ceased printing in 2019. Affiliations While run from ...

'' noted how the stylized red "M" looks identical to the logo of the ''Sparta Rangers'', a fictional faction of elite soldiers from the '' Metro 2033'' videogame.

Dmitry Glukhovsky Dmitry Alekseyevich Glukhovsky (, born 12 June 1979) is a Russian author, best known for the science fiction novel '' Metro 2033'' and its sequels. As a journalist, Dmitry Glukhovsky has worked for Euronews, RT in its early years, and others. ...

, writer and creator of the ''Metro'' series, condemned the use of the name and symbol in a radio interview.

Commanders

* Arsen "Motorola" Pavlov (2014–2016) * Vladimir "Vokha" Zhoga (2016–2022) * Artem Zhoga (2022–2023) * Denis Shundikov (2023-)

Gallery

File:2015-05-05. Репетиция парада Победы 204.jpg, Arsen Pavlov, first commander of the battalion preparing to participate in Victory Parade in 2015. File:DPR in Ilovaisk.png, Sparta Battalion in Ilovaisk talking to civilians near a cellar (August 2014) File:Sparta Battalion troops (Battle of Donetsk Airport).png, Sparta Battalion troops near the Donetsk Airport (October 2014) File:Motorola unit fighter (3).jpg, Company commander of the Sparta Battalion, "Matros", in Donetsk Airport. He led the final DPR assault on the New Terminal. File:2015-05-05. Репетиция парада Победы 200.jpg, Arsen Pavlov with his troops on

BTR-70 The BTR-70 is an eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier () originally developed by the Soviet Union during the late 1960s under the manufacturing code GAZ-4905. On August 21, 1972, it was accepted into Soviet service and would later be widely exp ...

s during the rehearsal of the 2015 Donetsk

Victory Day Victory Day is a commonly used name for public holidays in various countries, where it commemorates a nation's triumph over a hostile force in a war or the liberation of a country from hostile occupation. In many cases, multiple countries may ob ...

parade File:2016-05-09. День Победы в Донецке 047.jpg, Arsen Pavlov and Sparta Battalion troops on a

BTR-80 The BTR-80 () is an 8×8 wheeled Amphibious vehicle, amphibious armoured personnel carrier (APC) designed in the Soviet Union. It was adopted in 1985 and replaced the previous vehicles, the BTR-60 and BTR-70, in the Soviet Army. It was first de ...

during the 2016 Donetsk Victory Day parade File:2016-05-09. День Победы в Донецке 216.jpg, Sparta soldier at the Victory Parade in 2016.