Right Sector Ukrainian Volunteer Corps
Paramilitary unit in Ukraine / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Right Sector Ukrainian Volunteer Corps (Ukrainian: Добровольчий український корпус «Пра́вий се́ктор», ДУК ПС, romanized: Dobrovolʹchyi ukrainsʹkyi korpus "Právyi séktor", DUK PS) or simply the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps (Ukrainian: Добровольчий український корпус, ДУК, romanized: Dobrovolʹchyi ukrainsʹkyi korpus, DUK), was the paramilitary arm of right-wing Ukrainian nationalist party Right Sector. The Ukrainian Volunteer Corps was founded on July 17, 2014, as one of the "volunteer battalions", created as a response to the rise of pro-Russian separatism and the Russian intervention in the war in Donbas.[5]
Right Sector Ukrainian Volunteer Corps | |
---|---|
Доброво́льчий Украї́нський Ко́рпус «Пра́вий се́ктор» Dobrovolʹchyi ukrainsʹkyi korpus "Právyi séktor" | |
Active | 17 July 2014 – November 2022 |
Disbanded | November 2022 |
Country | Ukraine |
Allegiance | Right Sector |
Branch | Independent (2014–2022) Ukrainian Ground Forces (2022) |
Type | Volunteer formation |
Size | 5,000 (2014)[1] |
Nickname(s) | "Cyborgs"[2] |
Engagements | |
Website | Official Website |
Commanders | |
Current Commander | Andriy Stempitsky ("Letun") |
Former commander | Dmytro Yarosh ("Yastrub") |
Insignia | |
Flag | |
Battle flag |
They officially defined themselves as a "voluntary formation of Ukrainian citizens, Ukrainians from abroad and non-Ukrainians - citizens of other countries who share the ideology of Ukrainian nationalism and have expressed a desire to participate in the Ukrainian people's armed struggle against external and internal enemies."[6] The Ukrainian Volunteer Corps was mostly made up of members of Right Sector, but also accepts volunteers without any party affiliations, as well as foreigners.[7] The DUK was founded by Dmytro Yarosh—nom-de-guerre "Yastrub" ("Hawk")—who was also the leader of Right Sector, from an irregular militia that the Right Sector formed during the Euromaidan, which patrolled the streets after the fall of the Yanukovych government.[8] In 2015, after Yarosh's resignation, he announced the creation of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army, a new paramilitary unit made up of former units of the DUK.[9]
In July 2014, the DUK claimed to have 5,000 troops.[1] The group was involved in combat during the war in Donbas and later in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Most of the Ukrainian volunteer battalions were later integrated by the Ukrainian government into either the Ukrainian Ground Forces or the Ukrainian National Guard, but the DUK was one of the few that remained autonomous.[10] This changed with the 2022 invasion, when they were formally absorbed in the Ground Forces as a special operations unit.[11][12] In November 2022, the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps was reformed as the 67th Separate Mechanized Brigade "DUK", and were training in the United Kingdom.[13]