3rd Assault Brigade explained

Unit Name:3rd Separate Assault Brigade
Native Name:Ukrainian: 3-тя окрема штурмова бригада<br>3-tya okrema shturmova bryhada
Dates:January 2023[1] – present
Country:
Role:Mechanized Infantry
Command Structure:Operational Command North
Garrison:Kyiv, Kyiv Oblast
Battles:
Website:Official Website
Commander1:Andriy Biletsky
Notable Commanders:Andriy Biletsky
Dmytro Kukharchuk

The 3rd Separate Assault Brigade is a brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces formed in 2022.[5]

The brigade was established by a merger of the Azov SSO (Special Operations Forces) units that had been created by former Azov Battalion veterans. The brigade is commanded by Andriy Biletsky, founder and former commander of the Azov Battalion and former People's Deputy of Ukraine.

History

With the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, most units of the Azov Regiment were based in Mariupol where they soon would be besieged. Outside of Mariupol, many former veterans of Azov outside the city began forming new units, in particular in Kyiv, Sumy and Kharkiv. These units were soon integrated into the Special Operations Forces (SSO) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and became collectively known as "Azov SSO".[6] [7]

In November 2022, all the former Azov SSO were merged into a single fully operational combat unit within the Ukrainian Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.[8] [9] The formation of this brigade was strategically designed to create a highly mobile, well-equipped, and extensively trained force capable of engaging in both defensive and offensive operations.

An important milestone for the brigade occurred on 24 February 2023, when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy personally presented the Regimental Colour during a ceremonial event.[10] The colors of the brigade were said to "symbolize the tenacity of the traditions of Ukrainian statehood; from precisely the times of the Kievan Rus', the Cossack period, the first liberation struggles in the early 20th century to modern times.[11]

The brigade's soldiers took part in the liberation of Kherson and overall Kherson region, as well as in the battle of Bakhmut.[12] On April 12, 2023, the brigade's official media resources announced the start of recruitment efforts.[13] In May 2023, it was one of the first to report successful offensives in the Bakhmut district against the Russian Ground Forces.[14]

On 15 September 2023, after months of fighting, the brigade liberated Andriivka,[15] and held onto it despite a Russian counterattack on 17 September.[16] Ukrainian ground forces commander General Syrskyi called Klishchiivka and Andriivka "important elements of the Russian Bakhmut-Horlivka defensive line", and ISW assessed that the capture of these settlements defending a key Russian ground line of communication will make it difficult for the already weary defending forces to replenish and continue defending.[16]

In February 2024, shortly after the dismissal of Zaluzhnyi, the brigade was transferred into Avdiivka to relieve the potential encirclement of the city.[17] After the fall of Avdiivka on February 17, the brigade took new defensive lines west of Avdiivka around Lastochkyne.[18] On 17 February, the brigade's press officer, Oleksandr Borodin, claimed that during its relocation to Avdiivka, his unit had killed 1,500 Russians, and wounded over 3,500, and destroyed 20 armoured vehicles. He also said that the brigade has "no reports" of large numbers of their soldiers being taken prisoner.[19]

On 27 May 2024, the brigade claimed to have killed, wounded or taken prisoner "close to" 600 Russian troops in Kharkiv Oblast. One Russian soldier captured by the brigade claimed in an interview that he was the only survivor of his 15-man section following an attack.[20] On 19 June, the brigade claimed that their 1st Mechanised Battalion had killed 250 Russians in Kharkiv Oblast, publishing a video that purportedly "proved" their claims.[21]

Controversies

According to the independent French investigative online newspaper Mediapart, the French army trained soldiers from the 3rd Assault Brigade at the La Courtine camp, in the Creuse in 2023. Several of them displayed neo-Nazi symbols and on their social network profiles there are: "Hitlerian salutes, Celtic crosses, emblems of several SS divisions, skulls, pictures of Adolf Hitler". Mediapart asked the French Ministry of the Armed Forces to comment on the matter. The response was "It is the Ukrainian armed forces that organise the flow and selection of Ukrainian soldiers sent to France and Europe. We therefore have no comment to make on this organisation".[22] [23] [24] The Politician Catherine Couturier protested against the Ministry of the Armed Forces.[25]

In 2022, the Canadian Army was also criticised for training soldiers of the 3rd Assault Brigade.[25]

In July 2024, the brigade organised a tour through Europe to recruit volunteers and promote their image. After protests from left-wing groups, especially in Germany, events in Berlin, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Cologne and Brussels were cancelled.[26] [27] [28] Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht party declared that "The fact that such a war glorification event could take place in Berlin, particularly by an openly right-wing extremist organisation that historically refers to the Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera, is an incredible scandal".[26] There were also protests over the tour in Prague.[29]

According to some German daily newspapers, in July 2024 a Ukrainian soldier of the 3rd Assault Brigade visited the Auschwitz concentration camp wearing a T-shirt from the neo-nazi black metal band "M8l8th" ("88" is an abbreviation for "Heil Hitler"), active in Ukraine from 2014,[26] [30] with the inscription "Where we are, there is no place for anyone else" a quote that, according to historians, could be attributed to Adolf Hitler.[30] [31] [32] The spokesman for the Auschwitz Museum stated that they "will inform both the Polish prosecutor's office and the Embassy of Ukraine in Warsaw about this painful incident related to hate speech". According to Polish Press Agency the quote mentioned does not belong to Hitler, the identity of the man is unknown, the photo was originally published on Russian propaganda social accounts, where Kremlin propaganda presents Mariupol defenders as neo-Nazis, and is likely a Russian provocation, aimed to convince that the declared goal of "denazification of Ukraine" of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is justified.[33] [34] [35] [36]

Structure

As of 2024, the brigade's structure is as follows:[37]

References

  1. Web site: About the Third Separate Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine . Третя окрема штурмова бригада . 2023-10-06 . 2024-06-01.
  2. Web site: 3rd Assault Brigade Artillery Detachments deployed towards the Terny Direction. X (formerly Twitter) . 2024-05-02.
  3. News: Ukraine May Have Deployed One Its Best Brigades To Try To Save Avdiivka. 2024-02-11. Forbes.
  4. News: Ukraine war: The lethal minefields holding up Kyiv's counter-offensive . 3 July 2023 .
  5. Web site: 3-я окрема штурмовова бригада ЗОШБр Офіційний сайт . 2023-01-28 . ab3.army.
  6. Web site: Special operations forces of SSO Azov regiment become separate assault brigade of Ground Forces and fight in Bakhmut . 2023-01-28 . Ukrainska Pravda . en.
  7. News: Ball . Tom . 30 May 2022 . Azov Battalion drops neo-Nazi symbol exploited by Russian propagandists . en . The Times . 0140-0460.
  8. Web site: SSO Azov becomes Separate Assault Brigade with Army's Ground Forces . 2023-01-28 . www.ukrinform.net . 26 January 2023 . en.
  9. Web site: 2023-01-26 . SSO Azov Reformed and is Now the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade . 2023-01-28 . Atlas News . en-US.
  10. Web site: Суспільне Новини . Feb 24, 2023 . Зеленський до річниці великої війни нагородив військових на Софіївській площі . YouTube (23:50).
  11. News: Special operations forces of Azov regiment become separate assault brigade of Ground Forces and fight in Bakhmut . Ukrainska Pravda.
  12. Web site: Унікальні кадри війни з передової Бахмута Хроніка боїв азовців - документальний фільм. .
  13. Web site: 3-тя окрема штурмова бригада оголосила набір добровольців. Цензор.НЕТ. 2023-04-13. uk. Цензор.НЕТ.
  14. Web site: Украинские военные заявили, что 72-я бригада войск РФ оставила позиции под Бахмутом. ГОЛОС АМЕРИКИ. 2023-05-10. 2023-05-19. ru.
  15. Web site: Генштаб: ВСУ освободили Андреевку к югу от Бахмута . . . 2023-09-15 . 2023-09-15 . dw.com . ru . Жан Рофе .
  16. Web site: Institute for the Study of War . 2024-03-08 . Institute for the Study of War . en.
  17. Web site: Ukraine May Have Deployed One Its Best Brigades To Try To Save Avdiivka-It's possible the 3rd Assault Brigade has joined the fight . forbes.com.
  18. Web site: 3 ОШБр: У ворога на авдіївському напрямку достатньо сил і засобів для просування далі, Ласточкине - основний напрямок для росіян . interfax.com.ua.
  19. https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/02/17/7442369/ Most troops have left Avdiivka, no large-scale capture of Ukrainian soldiers – 3rd Separate Assault Brigade – video
  20. https://www.kyivpost.com/post/33460 Kremlin Commanders Undeterred by Losses, Repeat Armor and Infantry Attacks Across Front
  21. https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/06/19/7461527/ 3rd Assault Brigade posts video of killing 250 Russians in Kharkiv Oblast
  22. Web site: fr . Sébastien Bourdon . L'armée française entraîne des néonazis ukrainiens au combat . Mediapart. 22 May 2024 .
  23. Web site: fr . Matthieu Terrats . Guerre en Ukraine : "Le symbole de la SS tatoué sur le visage", des soldats néonazis ukrainiens entraînés en France . lindependant.fr.
  24. Web site: fr . Guerre en Ukraine : croix gammées, tatouage SS… des soldats ukrainiens néonazis entraînés en France ? . ladepeche.fr.
  25. Web site: L'armée française accusée d'avoir entraîné des néonazis ukrainiens dans la Creuse. 27 May 2024 .
  26. Web site: Asow-Brigade in Berlin-Treptow: Ukraine-Militärs sagen Werbetermin ab . Berliner Zeitung. https://web.archive.org/web/20240726082501/https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/politik-gesellschaft/geopolitik/asow-brigade-in-berlin-treptow-ukraine-militaers-sagen-werbetermin-ab-li.2238507. 26 July 2024.
  27. Web site: Linke protestieren gegen umstrittenes Asow-Bataillon . B.Z..
  28. Web site: Ukraine-Krieg und NS-Nostalgie: Auftritte von Asow-Sturmbrigade in Hamburg und Berlin gecancelt . Telepolis.
  29. Web site: Protest in Prague against visit by members of Azov brigade . Radio Prague.
  30. Web site: "T-Online": Ukrainischer Asow-Soldat besucht Auschwitz mit einem Neonazi-T-Shirt . Die Weltwoche. «Where we are, there is no place for anyone else», ein Zitat, das laut Historikern möglicherweise Adolf Hitler.
  31. Book: Delarue, Jacques . The Gestapo: History of Horror . The warning uttered by Hitler: "Where we are there is no place for anyone else!".
  32. Web site: The Fascist tradition : radical right-wing extremism in modern Europe . John . Weiss . As Hitler once said: “Where we are there is no place for anyone else.”.
  33. Web site: FakeHunter. Prowokacja w Auschwitz: nie wiadomo, kto za nią stoi . 2024-07-26 . www.pap.pl.
  34. Web site: Rosyjskie media donoszą o prowokacji w obozie Auschwitz. FakeHunter: nie wiadomo kto za tym stoi - Redakcja Polska . 2024-07-26 . www.polskieradio.pl . pl-PL.
  35. Web site: 2024-07-19 . Rosja znów sieje dezinformację? Tym razem chodzi o zdjęcie przed Auschwitz . 2024-07-26 . gazetapl . pl.
  36. Web site: 2024-07-19 . Rosja znów sieje dezinformację? Tym razem chodzi o zdjęcie przed Auschwitz. "Mowa nienawiści" - Wiadomości . 2024-07-26 . pl-PL.
  37. Web site: 3rd Separate Assault Infantry Brigade – Ukraine's Counteroffensive, Units to Watch #1 . 2023-05-29 . Get the Latest Ukraine News Today - KyivPost . 12 May 2023 . en.
  38. Web site: Military in Mariupol has enough fighters, but they need equipment, aviation – National Corps. Interfax-Ukraine.
  39. Web site: БЕЗПІЛОТНІ СИСТЕМИ #3ОШБр . 2024-02-20 . Telegram.

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