https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_volunteer_battalions
The Volunteer Battalions (Добровольчі батальйони) were unofficial paramilitary organisations formed by various Ukrainian political and civil society organisations, particularly those of a right wing or far right leaning, such as Patriot of Ukraine, Svoboda, Right Sector and Brotherhood, many of them have their origins in the “Maidan Self Defence Groups”, street mobs formed by political groups during the Euromaidan uprising against the Ukrainian government in 2014.
Most of the Volunteer Battalions were absorbed as formal organisations of the Ukrainian government after the success of the Maidan uprising, three government structures were formed by the Ukrainian authorities for this purpose, the Ukrainian National Guard and the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Battalions controlled by the Ministry of Defence and the Ukrainian Special Tasks Patrol Police controlled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, some Volunteer Battalions refused to be absorbed into formal government control such as the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps and Ukrainian Volunteer Army, some of these last holdouts joined the Ukrainian Army after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine (such as the UVC, which became the 67th Mechanised Brigade), others remain independent (such as the UVA).
Examples of the Volunteer Battalions include:
- The Black Corps (later reformed as the Azov Battalion, then as the Azov Brigade and its splinters, such as Azov-Kyiv, Azov-Dnipro, Kraken Regiment, Lubart Brigade and the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade)
- The OUN Battalion
- The Freikorps Volunteer Unit
- The Shakhtarsk Battalion (later reformed as the Tornado Battalion)
- The Sich Battalion (later reformed as the 49th Infantry Battalion (Sich))
- The Eastern Corps Company (later reformed as East Special Purpose Company)
- and St Mary’s Battalion
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