Harpoon Company (Ukraine) Explained

Unit Name:Harpoon Company
Native Name:uk|Рота поліції «Гарпун»
Dates:2014–present
Country:
Allegiance: Ministry of Internal Affairs
Branch:Special Tasks Patrol Police
Type:Police tactical unit
Command Structure: Myrotvorets Battalion
Garrison:Kyiv
Battles:Russo-Ukrainian War
Identification Symbol Label:Former Insignia

The Harpoon Company is the 3rd company of the Myrotvorets Battalion of the Liut Brigade of the Special Tasks Patrol Police subordinated to Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. The company is currently based in Kyiv. It was established in 2014 and has, since then seen regular combat on the frontlines.

History

On 15 September 2014, the Harpoon Battalion was established as a volunteer Battalion composed of volunteers participants of the Revolution of Dignity, especially the activists of "Maidan Self-Defense", "Free People", "Plast", Youth Nationalist Congress and C14.[1] [2] In November 2014, the personnel of the battalion were deployed to the ATO zone and conducted successful combat operations in Kramatorsk, Svitlodarsk, Chasiv Yar, among other settlements.[1] On 22 July 2015, two soldiera of the battalion (Mykola Mykolayovych Hordiychuk[3] [4] and Biryukov Yevhen Andriyovych[5]) were blown up by a landmine near Avdiivka, received numerous wounds and died on way to Krasnoarmiisk hospital.[1] Although the Battalion was designated for Reconnaissance and Counter-Reconnaissance operations specializing in camouflage, survival in the wild, covert operations, operations behind the enemy lines amongst others[6] but following the battalion's reformation into a Company, it's tasks were changed to service at checkpoints despite the promises to keep the company for it's specific tasks.[7] On 7 August 2015, "Kyivschyna", "Harpoon"[8] and a part of the "Tornado" Company were reformed into the 2nd, 3rd[9] and 4th Separate Companies of the Myrotvorets Battalion.[10]

Tasks

Following are the main tasks of the company:[1]

Notes and References

  1. https://vto-orden.com.ua/catalog/award/02-lyutogo-2019-garpun-istoriyi-odnogo-bataljonu Гарпун: Історії одного батальйону
  2. https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/27913445.html Список «С14»: чому активісти могли опинитися на дошці розшуку поліції?
  3. https://memorybook.org.ua/4/gordiychukmyk.htm Гордійчук Микола Миколайович
  4. https://vmgr.org.ua/unit/batalion-patrulnoi-sluzhby-militsii-osoblyvoho-pryznachennia-harpun Гордійчук Микола Миколайович
  5. https://memorybook.org.ua/2/birukovevgen.htm Бірюков Євген Андрійович
  6. https://www.volynnews.com/news/society/volynskykh-plastuniv-vchat-pryyomam-spetsnazu-boyets-harpuna/ Волинських пластунів вчать прийомам спецназу, – боєць «Гарпуна»
  7. https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/features-38682505 Чи дійсно добровольців "витискають" з поліції?
  8. https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/features-40483834 Група С14: хулігани, які ловлять сепаратистів
  9. https://militaryland.net/ukraine/special-police-forces/myrotvorets-battalion/ Myrotvorets Battalion
  10. Web site: Полк поліції особливого призначення "Миротворець". Міністерство внутрішніх справ України. 2017-01-21. 2016-11-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20161104003930/https://kv.npu.gov.ua/uk/publish/article/212208.