The 2nd Special Purpose "Tsunami" Assault Police Regiment is a regiment 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 ...

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

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

. 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

At the beginning of the

, in

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

, 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 Tsunami Battalion. The Battalion took part in the Battle of Odessa and then went to the frontlines in the

Kherson Oblast Kherson Oblast (, ; ), also known as Khersonshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in southern Ukraine. It is located just north of Crimea. Its administrative center is Kherson, on the northern or right bank ...

. When 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 ...

advanced, the Tsunami Battalion followed them and consolidated control over territory by conducting clearance operations. Their task was to identify collaborators,

saboteur Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization, destabilization, division, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''sabo ...

s, and Russian soldiers who failed to retreat. The police collaborating with civilians, and located the Russian military positions and investigated

Russian war crimes Russian war crimes are violations of international criminal law including war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide which the official armed and paramilitary forces of Russia have committed or been accused of committing sinc ...

. They also provide local residents with communication, medicine and humanitarian aid, gathering the locals and establishing

Starlink Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by Starlink Services, LLC, an international telecommunications provider that is a wholly owned subsidiary of American aerospace company SpaceX, providing coverage to around 130 countries ...

connections in the liberated settlements. From 18 April 2022 to 5 February 2023, the combat operations during the

Southern Ukraine campaign The southern front of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is an ongoing Theater (warfare)#Theatre of operation, theatre of operation in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022. The Russian Armed Forces, Russian military inva ...

especially in

Mykolaiv Oblast Mykolaiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Mykolaivshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Mykolaiv. At the most recent estimate, the population ...

and

.Зведений батальйон спецпризначення «Цунамі»
/ref> During April-June 2022, the battalion organized and took part in 22 operational-combat missions of counter-subversive struggle to detect enemy subversive-reconnaissance groups and their alleged aids in the

Odesa Oblast Odesa Oblast (), also referred to as Odeshchyna (Одещина), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its administrative centre is the city of Ode ...

capturing weapons caches, ammunition, communication and other equipment, clearance operations were carried out aimed at identifying collaborators who spread anti-Ukrainian content on social networks, with the aim of escalating the conflict situation in the region, inciting inter-national and inter-ethnic enmity and justifying the

. On 17 July 2022, during the

2022 Kherson counteroffensive A military counteroffensive was launched by Ukraine on 29 August 2022 to expel Russian forces occupying the southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts. Military analysts consider the counteroffensive to be the third strategic phase of th ...

, the battalion captured the positions in

Lozove Lozove () is a rural settlement in Khmelnytskyi Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, western Ukraine. It belongs to Derazhnia urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The settlement's population was 1,650 as of the 2001 Ukrainian Census and Histo ...

, enabling the

to advance during the counteroffensive. From 3 September 2022 to 10 November 2022, the Tsunami Battalion conducted assault operations in

and

, in addition to counter-sabotage, search and clearance operations in 10 settlements including

, Bilohirka and Blagodativka. Tsunami Klishiyivka

On February 6, 2023, the consolidated special purpose battalion was reorganized into the 2nd Special Purpose Offensive "Tsunami" Police Regiment and became a part of the

. After training and combat coordination, the regiment took part 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 ...

, taking part in combat operations in

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 the

Donetsk Oblast Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...

, the regiment defeated the elite forces 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 ...

in a close-range combat. In July 2023, an armored vehicle was destroyed and 15 paratroopers of the 83rd Guards Air Assault Brigade of the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

were killed by the regiment. On 26 July 2023, some Russian attack aircraft were also destroyed by the regiment. In the spring of 2023, the "Tavr" assault battalion became a part of the regiment. On 3 February 2024, the regiment conducted artillery strikes against Russian forces in

. The regiment's commander, Lieutenant Colonel Oleksandr Evgeniyovich Hostishchev was killed in 15 March 2024 Odesa missile strikes along with two other personnel Sergiy Tetyukhin and Andriy Boyarsky. In May 2024, the regiment, together with the

, took part in the

2024 Kharkiv offensive On 10 May 2024, the Russian Armed Forces began an offensive operation in Ukraine's Kharkiv Oblast, shelling and attempting to breach the defenses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the direction of Vovchansk and Kharkiv. ''The Guardian'' reported ...

especially in the Battle of Vovchansk, during which on 22 May 2024, a serviceman of the regiment, Shablyko Serhii Gennadiyovych, was killed in action.

Structure

* 1st Assault Battalion * 2nd Assault Battalion * 3rd Assault Battalion * Tavr Battalion

Tasks

* Offensive Assault * Countersabotage * Counterterrorism * Clearance operations * Reconnaissance

Commanders

* Lieutenant Colonel Oleksandr Evgeniyovich(2022-2024)

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