https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Orthodox_Army
The Russian Orthodox Army (Русская православная армия) was a (Pro-Russia) Volunteer Battallion formed during the revolts in Donbas, acting as a paramilitary wing of the Russian Far Right group Russian National Unity under the leadership of RNU member Pavel Gubarev:
In the Donbass region, the RNE organized the small but highly effective group Russkaia pravoslavnaia armiia (Russian Orthodox army), which was de facto under the control of RNE member Pavel Gubarev, by Gubarev’s own account.
Perhaps the prime example here is the RNU party, which played a very particular role in exacerbating the conflict in its first weeks and months.38 The leader of the movement, Alexander Barkashov, a former military who founded the RNU in 1990, and a group of comrades-in-arms performed an “inspection” of several Ukrainian provinces in late February and early March 2014.39 The first “separatist people’s governor” of Donetsk province, Pavel Gubarev, had also been a member of the RNU and, by his own admission, received military training in the party.40 In May 2014, A. Barkashov also instructed the local activists, including one of the founders of the Russian Orthodox Army, D. Boitsov, about how and when they should carry out a “referendum” on independence (the RNU’s leaders instructions were followed to the letter).
- https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/rnv95_uk_likhachev_far-right_radicals_final.pdf (Page 21)
The Army was later absorbed into the “Oplot 5th Seperate Infantry Brigade” of the Donetsk People’s Militia becoming its first battalion (1st Battalion of the 5th Oplot Brigade):
Many local and Russian far right activists from the RNU and other groups joined the RPA (Russian Rebel Army), acting independently at first before merging into the “Oplot” brigade. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Orthodox_Army#Aftermath
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