Dnipro Battalion

Dnipro Battalion
Батальйон «Дніпро»

Patch of the Dnipro Battalion
Agency overview
Employees 2,000 battle-ready troops, 20,000 in reserve (late June 2014)[1]
Legal personality Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction* Patrol police of , UA
Governing body Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ukraine)
General nature
Operational structure
Headquarters Dnipropetrovsk
Agency executive Yuriy Bereza[2]
Footnotes
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction.

Dnipro Battalion, also known as Dnipro-1 (Ukrainian: Батальйон «Дніпро»), is a Territorial Defense Battalion of Ukraine and functions as and is subordinate to the patrol police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine that is based in Dnipropetrovsk. The unit was established in April 2014 on a voluntary basis during the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine, which initiated multiple separatist movements in the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine.[3][4][5][6] Its assignments include duties at multiple checkpoints in the south-eastern part of Ukraine.[7] The unit claims to have hired Romanian and Georgian military advisers to help with the training of troops.[1] Before June 2014 this training was often just one week.[1] It first operated outside Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in May 2014.[1]

The militia unit, nicknamed Kolomoyskyi’s battalion,[1] is funded by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and also through the charitable organization "Fund Dnipro-1".[8][9][10] Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi (who was Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast during the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine) is believed to have spent $10 million to create the unit.[7]

On 24 December 2014, Amnesty International reported that the unit was blocking humanitarian aid sent from Ukraine reaching the population in the separatist-controlled areas; over half the population in these areas depend on food aid. The reason the aid is being blocked by the Dnipro, Aidar and Donbass battalions is that the battalions "believe food and clothing are ending up in the wrong hands and may be sold instead of being given as humanitarian aid."[11] Denis Krivosheev, acting Director of Europe and Central Asia for Amnesty International, stated that "Using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime".[12]

Commander of the unit Yuriy Bereza is since the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election a member of the Ukrainian parliament for the People's Front; he was placed 10th on the parties election list.[13][14] Member of the unit Volodymyr Parasyuk was also elected into parliament during these elections by winning the electoral district of Yavoriv with 56.56% of the votes.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Ukraine's Secret Weapon: Feisty Oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, The Wall Street Journal (June 27, 2014)
  2. ↑ (Russian) Reward for turning weapons and capturing saboteurs will pay directly at checkpoints, Gorod.dp., April 17, 2014.
  3. ↑ The secret of eastern Ukraine’s one rebel-free region, The Wall Street Journal, July 8, 2014.
  4. ↑ Ukrainian city stays quiet amid war, The Washington Post, June 25, 2014.
  5. ↑ (Russian) Батальон "Днепр" взял контроль над железной дорогой , Vesti.ua, May 30, 2014.
  6. ↑ (Russian) МВД Украины создает спецподразделения по охране общественного порядка, April 15, 2014.
  7. 1 2 The Town Determined to Stop Putin, The Daily Beast (12 June 2014)
  8. ↑ Ukraine’s fractures: Interview with Volodymyr Ishchenko in 'New Left Review', (Ukrainian socialist Volodymyr Ishchenko is the founding editor in Ukraine of the journal ″Spilne″), New Left Review, № 8, May–June 2014.
  9. ↑ (Ukrainian) Всі бажаючі можуть допомогти батальйону «Дніпро» і Полку національного захисту, Dnipropetrovsk news, May 19, 2014.
  10. ↑ Here are the payment requisites for sending funds for the battalion "Dnepr" and the Regiment of national protection needs, Interfax-Ukraine (28 May 2014)
  11. ↑ Amnesty International, Eastern Ukraine: Humanitarian disaster looms as food aid blocked, 24 December 2014.
  12. ↑ http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/eastern-ukraine-humanitarian-disaster-looms-food-aid-blocked-2014-12-24
  13. ↑ People's Front names top ten candidates in elections, Ukrinform (September 15, 2014)
  14. ↑ Poroshenko Bloc to have greatest number of seats in parliament, Ukrainian Television and Radio (8 November 2014)
    People's Front 0.33% ahead of Poroshenko Bloc with all ballots counted in Ukraine elections - CEC, Interfax-Ukraine (8 November 2014)
    Poroshenko Bloc to get 132 seats in parliament - CEC, Interfax-Ukraine (8 November 2014)
  15. ↑ (Ukrainian) Candidates and winner for the seat in constituency 122 in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, RBK Ukraine
    (Ukrainian) Volodymyr Parasyuk very short bio, RBK Ukraine
    Video of first brawl in Verkhovna Rada becomes a YouTube hit, Kyiv Post (5 December 2014)

External links

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