Volunteer Donbass Battalion takes up arms to defend Ukraine, defeat separatists

Signs adorned with colorful
paintings of rainbows and flowers seemingly drawn by the untrained hands of
children mark its entrance. Faded hopscotches decorate the pavement not far
from a jungle gym inside the kaleidoscopic gates where they would laugh and
play.

But today, it is home to dozens
of fidgety middle-aged men in masks decked out in black combat gear and
carrying assault rifles.

They are members of the Donbass
Battalion, a volunteer militia group devoted to ensuring a united Ukraine, and
they operate with the tacit support of the central government in Kyiv. Their
task is fighting Russian-backed separatist rebels who, with Moscow’s backing, have besieged the country’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and pushed the
country to the brink of war.

Comprised of ex-military men
with experience operating in hot spots around the world and civilian
volunteers, the brigade operates covertly throughout the regions, destroying rebel
roadblocks and freeing the buildings they occupy. On occasion, they capture and
interrogate the rebels before turning them and their weapons over to
authorities in Dnipropetrovsk, where the regional governor, an oligarch
appointed by Kyiv named Igor Kolomoisky, has offered cash rewards for them.

The group was first seen in
action on May 2, when a shaking video published to YouTube showed the
black-clad battalion, wielding Kalashnikov rifles, destroying a separatist
checkpoint near Krasnoarmiisk, 67 kilometers from the rebel stronghold Donetsk.
During the raid, the patriotic militiamen captured 15 rebels and seized three
automatic rifles.

The guns were later exchanged
for cash, explains Sergey Yeriomen, the militia unit’s vice commander. A
retired serviceman and Makiivka businessman before the crisis, he’s the only
man here not masking his face and carrying a Kalashnikov at the camp. But he’s
fiddling with a small pistol inside his jacket pocket as he explains how the
battalion operates.

“We crowd-fund on the Internet,
including publishing our bank details on Facebook, and we use our own money,”
he says, adding that he cleaned out his savings account to help fund the unit.
Many other men have done the same, he says.

Since the unit’s first call to
arms about three weeks ago, more than 100 men have joined its ranks. Another
600 are on a waiting list, says Semyon Semenchenko, Donbass Battalion’s
38-year-old commander and a former army reserve captain.

Flanked by two armed men beneath
the colorful gates and “welcome” sign of his unit’s basecamp, Semenchenko, in
black combat gear and a balaclava, says that they recently captured three spies
who attempted to infiltrate the group. They asked “too many questions” and “about
mission logistics,” he said. “We spotted them immediately.” He did not say what
became of the spies, other than they were “taken away.”

Semenchenko, a former small
business owner who before that spent six years in the military, says that his
unit is “fighting bandits and criminals and traitors to the country.”

Those in the separatist camp
not fighting physically, Semenchenko adds, are equally guilty of treason. “They
are spreading lies and propaganda. They are telling false information that
gives a warped sense of the reality here,” he says.

A Donbass Battalion member stands guard at the units base camp.

He and his men – as well as several
other militia groups that have popped up across eastern Ukraine in recent weeks
– have taken up arms to fight separatism here, because “if we don’t, who will?”

The Ukrainian army, which in April launched a largely unsuccessful counter-terrorism operation against the heavily
armed rebels here, leaving at least 25 killed and many more wounded, is “impotent,” Semenchenko
says.

“Ukrainian forces sitting near
Sloviansk are cowards,” says Yeriomen, referring to the flash point city of
some 100,000 people where several gun battles between Ukrainian security forces
and armed separatists have taken place in the past three weeks.

As for police forces here, many
officers have defected to the side of the pro-Russian separatists, while others
have fled the region or simply don’t show up for work. That has left a security
vacuum filled with scores of empowered armed rebels who act with impunity.

So what does it take to become
a member of this squad? 

The criteria for joining the its ranks, Yeriomen says, is
straightforward: men and women must be at least 18 years old, they must be
healthy and harbor a great love for their Motherland. “Everything else can be
learned here,” he adds, gesturing to the training grounds being erected over
his shoulder and the men stacking sandbags around a lookout post.

This camp is new. The
battalion’s last one, a field location near Krasnoarmiisk dotted with trees and
defunct agricultural equipment, was discovered by the pro-Russian rebel forces.
The battalion was forced to find a new location after that, hence the summer
camp, which Yeriomen says was provided by Kolomoisky’s regional government.

“We communicate with someone
close to Kolomoisky,” he explains. “They provide some support.”

Standing besides a handful of
his militiamen dressed in what appear to be brand new black uniforms emblazoned
with “Ukrainian Army” patches, Yeriomin says he can’t elaborate on the support provided
by the regional government. The Kyiv Post’s requests for comments from
Kolomoisky, members of his government and press team regarding their
cooperation with the militia were not answered.

Despite the army patches, these
fighters are not affiliated with the army, Yeriomen says. And despite comments
from Dmitry Yarosh, leader of the nationalist militant organization Right
Sector, they aren’t affiliated with any far-right groups, he explains.

They do, however, take some
orders from “someone close to (Arsen) Avakova,” Yeriomen says, referring to the
acting Interior Minister. Avakov could not be reached for comment to confirm this. Yeriomen insists, however, that most decisions are made
between him and Semenchenko.

Asked how long the unit will
fight, Yeriomen says, “as long as it takes.”

“But when this is over, I will
go back to a peaceful life,” he says. “I have 40 years of military experience.
It’s enough for me.”

Kyiv Post editor Christopher J. Miller can be
reached at miller@kyivpost.com,
and on Twitter at @ChristopherJM. 

Editor’s Note: This article has been produced
with support from the project www.mymedia.org.ua, financially supported by
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, and implemented by a joint venture
between NIRAS and BBC Media Action.The content in this article may not
necessarily reflect the views of the Danish government, NIRAS and BBC Action
Media