Noman Çelebicihan Battalion Батальйон імені Номана Челебіджіхана | |
Native Name: | Crimean Tatar; Crimean Turkish: Noman Çelebicihan Batalyonı |
Native Name Lang: | CRH |
Active: | 18 September 2016 – late 2016 24 February 2022–present |
Area: | Kherson Oblast |
Size: | 250+ 560 |
Partof: | SBGS |
Allies: | Ukraine Turkey |
Opponents: | Russia |
Battles: | War in Donbas Russian Invasion of Ukraine |
The Noman Çelebicihan Battalion (Ukrainian: Батальйон імені Номана Челебіджіхана, Crimean Tatar; Crimean Turkish: Noman Çelebicihan Batalyonı) is a Crimean Tatar volunteer battalion named after Noman Çelebicihan formed in 2016 and disbanded on the same year. The base of the battalion was in the Kherson region bordering Crimea.[1]
The battalion emerged from participants in the 2015 activist-led blockade of Crimea that stopped Ukrainian cargo from reaching the Crimean peninsula.[2] [3] The battalion was planned to include 560 people.[2]
The Crimean Tatar battalion reportedly received assistance from a volunteer Turkey in 2016 shortly after founding.[4]
In 2016 the battalion helped the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine in the region bordering Crimea. The battalion virtually ceased to exist around the end of the same year, with many of its volunteers joining other battalions or enlisting into the Ukrainian army.[5]
(Crimean Tatar: Qırım Haber Ajansı) reported that the battalion was formed again on February 24, 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[6]
On June 1, 2022, the Supreme Court of Russia recognized the Noman Çelebicihan Battalion as a terrorist organization.[7]