The 39th Motorized Infantry Battalion "Dnipro-2" was a

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

formation of the

Ukrainian Ground Forces The Ukrainian Ground Forces (SVZSU, ), also referred to as the Ukrainian army, is a land force, and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It was formed from Ukrainian units of the Soviet Army after Declaratio ...

in 2014–2016. The battalion was created in May 2014 in response to the Russian annexation of Crimea as the 39th volunteer territorial defense battalion "Dnipro-2" from the residents of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Fighters of the battalion took part in fierce battles for

Ilovaisk Ilovaisk (, ; ) is a city in Donetsk Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine; residence of Ilovaisk urban hromada. The city is ''de facto'' annexed by Russia and administered by the Donetsk People's Republic. The city is known as a major regional ra ...

in August 2014. It was disbanded in 2016 and transformed into 55th Artillery Brigade (Ukraine).

History

On March 18, 2014, after Russia's military invasion of Crimea and its

annexation Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held t ...

, partial

mobilization Mobilization (alternatively spelled as mobilisation) is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the ...

began in Ukraine. April 30, 2014 the Acting President of Ukraine

Oleksandr Turchynov Oleksandr Valentynovych Turchynov (, ; born 31 March 1964) is a Ukrainians, Ukrainian politician, screenwriter, Baptists in Ukraine, Baptist minister and economist. He is the former Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukra ...

instructed the heads of regional administrations to start creating territorial defense battalions in each region of Ukraine. In July, 39 BTR personnel performed tasks near

Volnovakha Volnovakha ( Ukrainian and Russian: , , ; ) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Volnovakha Raion within the oblast. As of January 2022, it had a population of The train station is a railway h ...

. On the evening of July 21, 2014, a minibus loaded with

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ex ...

s hit a checkpoint of Ukrainian forces near the village of Kamyanka and exploded. Five soldiers were killed. On August 1, the infantry and security companies of the 39th BTR were transferred to the Mnogopillya district between

and Kuteynikov, where they formed a base camp. In August 2014 39th territorial defense battalion "Dnipro-2" had participated in

Battle of Ilovaisk The Battle of Ilovaisk started on 7 August 2014, when the Armed Forces of Ukraine and pro-Ukrainian paramilitaries began a series of attempts to capture the city of Ilovaisk from pro-Russian insurgents affiliated with the Donetsk People's Rep ...

. On August 29, negotiations on a green corridor to leave the encirclement were held with the enemy. According to the Book of Memory, 8 soldiers of the 39th Battalion were killed near Ilovaisk. In November 2014, the BTRO was reorganized into the 39th Separate Motorized Infantry Battalion and transferred to the 55th Artillery Brigade. 39th Motorized Infantry Battalion was disbanded in 2016, a security battalion of the 55th separate artillery brigade was created on its basis.

Equipment

The battalion personnel received regular small arms and disposable grenade launchers. There were problems with providing soldiers with protective equipment, primarily

bulletproof vest A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or bullet-resistant vest, is a type of body armor designed to absorb impact and prevent the penetration of firearm projectiles and explosion fragments to the torso. The vest can be either soft ...

s. The process of purchasing them at public expense was stopped after the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

's Anti-Monopoly Committee began reviewing tenders; promises to help by several Dnipropetrovsk

philanthropists Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

were not fulfilled. This led to the fact that at the end of June, when 39 armored personnel carriers were already on the front line, ten soldiers of the battalion had one bulletproof vest.

Command

Commanders

* (May 2014 – October 2014) Colonel Pasichnyuk Serhiy Vasylovych * (October 2014 – September 2016) Colonel Berbushenko Volodymyr Pavlovych * (September 2016) Lieutenant Colonel Hulyak Volodymyr Mykolayovych

Deputies

* (October 2014 – March 2016) Major Bohatyr Roman Viktorovych

Losses

According to the Book of Memory, between 2014 and 2017, the battalion lost 28 people.

Honoring

On December 8, 2018, in Dnipro,

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

s of the UOC-KP prayed for the fallen 28 soldiers and the health of families, for the peace of the Heroes, for Ukraine, and the victory of the Ukrainian-Russian war. Bishop Simeon

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

awarded the soldiers with church awards ''For Sacrifice and Love for Ukraine''. Those present honored the feat of servicemen by laying flowers on the Alley of Heroes.

References

{{War in Donbass Territorial defence battalions of Ukraine Military units and formations of Ukraine in the war in Donbas Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in the Russo-Ukrainian War