Sich Battalion

The Sich Battalion (Ukrainian: Батальйон "Сiч"), officially the 4th Company "Sich" of the Kyiv Regiment, is a Ukrainian special police battalion consisting of volunteers from Kyiv.[1]

Sich Battalion
Ukrainian: батальйон патрульної служби міліції особливого призначення "Сiч"
Active	June 2014 – present
Country	Ukraine
Allegiance	Ministry of Internal Affairs
Type	Police Tactical Unit
Engagements	War in Donbass Battle of Marinka Battle of Avdiivka

The Sich Battalion was formed by the Svoboda party in June 2014, and named after the Sich of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, which challenged the Polish, Russian, and Turkish rule of Ukraine.[2] The unit is one of several Ukrainian paramilitary volunteer battalions formed at the start of the War in Donbass in 2014, along with the Svyatyi Mykolai Battalion or Donbass Battalion, to fight against pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. The Sich Battalion officially became an active unit of Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs following its oath taking ceremony on 26 August 2014, and is composed of around 50 volunteers, some of whom have prior military service.[3] Like other volunteer units, Sich Battalion members underwent two months of basic training prior to activation and began engaging separatist forces with minimal training or equipment. While the Sich Battalion was much smaller than other volunteer units, it was designed for the specific purpose of combating insurgents in the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine.[4]

Arsen Avakov, the head of Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs, said that a member of the Sich Battalion was arrested after a member of the National Guard of Ukraine was killed during rioting in Kyiv on August 31, 2015.[5]

On 21 December 2015, the Sich Battalion was reformed into the 4th Company "Sich" of the Kyiv Regiment, as part of the Kyiv city special police, with Maxim Morozov as its commander.