The Prizrak Brigade (russian: Бригада «Призрак», meaning "Ghost Brigade"), founded by
Aleksey Mozgovoy, is an infantry unit of the
Luhansk People's Republic
The Luhansk or Lugansk People's Republic (russian: Луга́нская Наро́дная Респу́блика, Luganskaya Narodnaya Respublika, ; abbreviated as LPR or LNR, rus, ЛНР) is a disputed entity created by Russian-backed ...
(LPR), one of the self-proclaimed
breakaway state
Breakaway or Break Away may refer to:
Film, television and radio
* ''Breakaway'' (1955 film), a British film
* ''Breakaway'' (1990 film), an Australian film featuring Deborah Kara Unger
* ''Breakaway'' (1996 film), an American film featuring T ...
s located in the
Donbas. It is officially designated "Prizrak Mechanized Brigade" and "4th Territorial Defense Brigade (
Alchevsk
Alchevsk ( uk, Алчéвськ, translit. ''Alchevs'k''; russian: Алчéвск) is a city of significance in the Luhansk Oblast of Ukraine. It is located approximately from the oblast capital, Luhansk.
Alchevsk is one of the largest indus ...
)". According to
Amnesty International, the unit is one of the separatist units known for brutal treatment and torture of
prisoners of war.
[Breaking Bodies: Torture and summary killings in eastern Ukraine]
/ref>
History
The unit was established in late 2014 after anti-Maidan
The anti-Maidan ( uk, Антимайда́н, Antymaidan; russian: Антимайдан, Antimaydan) refers to a number of pro-Russian demonstrations in Ukraine in 2013 and 2014 that were directed against Euromaidan and later the new Ukrainian ...
protesters occupied the RSA buildings in Luhansk
Luhansk (, ; uk, Луганськ, ), also known as Lugansk (, ; russian: Луганск, ), is a city in what is internationally recognised as Ukraine, although it is administered by Russia as capital of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). A ...
. It began as a platoon
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may rang ...
sized unit, but in August 2014 it became a battalion as the number of fighters grew to 1,000. The commander of the Brigade Aleksey Mozgovoy claimed in late December 2014 to have up to 3,000 fighters. The brigade quickly earned a "feared" reputation and was regarded as one of the best units loyal to the LPR. However, the Prizrak Brigade deliberately stayed outside the developing umbrella structures among the separatists, initially neither joining the Army of the South-East or the LPR People's Militia. In early 2015, it fought in the Battle of Debaltseve.
Mozgovoy was killed in an IED and gun ambush on 23 May 2015 along with a number of his bodyguards. Separatist authorities blamed Ukrainian assassins, but investigators and members of his unit suspected that his local rivals were responsible. Researcher Mark Galeotti
Mark Galeotti (born October 1965) is a London-based political scientist, lecturer and writer on transnational crime and Russian security affairs and director of the consultancy Mayak Intelligence. He is an honorary professor at the UCL School of Sl ...
argued that the assassination was "mysterious" and noted that the Prizrak Brigade ceased its great autonomy following Mozgovoy's death. The unit was subsequently reorganized as the "4th Territorial Defense Brigade (Alchevsk
Alchevsk ( uk, Алчéвськ, translit. ''Alchevs'k''; russian: Алчéвск) is a city of significance in the Luhansk Oblast of Ukraine. It is located approximately from the oblast capital, Luhansk.
Alchevsk is one of the largest indus ...
)" of the United Armed Forces of Novorossiya
The Donetsk People's Militia and Luhansk People's Militia (formerly also called Russian separatist forces in Donbas) are pro-Russian paramilitaries in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, which have been fighting the Armed Forces of Ukraine in ...
. In the same year, all "military units" of the DPR and LPR were designated as " terrorist organisations" by Supreme Court of Ukraine
The Supreme Court of Ukraine ( uk, Верховний Суд України, ) is the highest judicial body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction in Ukraine.[Security Service of Ukraine
The Security Service of Ukraine ( uk, Служба безпеки України, translit=Sluzhba bezpeky Ukrainy}) or SBU ( uk, СБУ, link=no) is the law enforcement authority and main intelligence and security agency of the Ukrainian ...]
has been pursuing units members in order to detain them since then.
On 24 October 2020 Aleksey Markov, political and military leader of the group after the assassination of Aleksey Mozgovoy, died in a car accident.
In the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...
, the Prizrak Brigade took part in the Eastern Ukraine offensive
The eastern Ukraine campaign is a theatre of operation in the ongoing 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine that affects three provinces (oblasts) in the eastern part of Ukraine: Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast (collectively the Donbas) and K ...
.
Organization
The Prizrak Brigade considers itself both a military combat unit as well as an anti-Imperialist
Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is a term used in a variety of contexts, usually by nationalist movements who want to secede from a larger polity (usually in the form of an empire, but also in a multi-ethnic so ...
and revolutionary socialist
Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revoluti ...
political organization.
Membership of Prizrak comprises primarily of east Ukrainians and Russian nationals, however, due to their political ethos the unit does draw in a number of foreign volunteers. These foreigners come from France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
, Colombia. In the brigade's early phase, several foreign volunteers were associated with "Unité Continentale", a group which described itself as socialist and enlisted both French as well as Brazilians, but had reportedly been founded by French ultranationalists.
In 2015, a far-left military political unit composed of internationalist volunteers called "Interunit" was built inside the Prizrak Brigade, and was operational until 2017. The emblem of the unit was that of the International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
. The bulk of the unit's volunteers came from Spain and it was commanded by an Italian fighter called "Nemo". By 2019, the foreigners mainly operated as part of the Prizrak Brigade's Unit 404 and the Biryukov-Markov Unit. The latter, alternatively called the "Volunteer Communist Detachment", is mostly composed of Communists and commanded by Pyotr Biryukov.
The Prizrak Brigade also includes many individuals claiming Cossack heritage, resulting in it being nicknamed the "Antrastsit Cossacks".
War crimes
A former Ukrainian POW of the Prizrak Brigade told Amnesty International that his captors had brutally tortured him and other prisoners, including through daily beatings, near-starvation, and the stabbing as well as shooting of body parts. The group also forced prisoners to read confessions on Russian TV.[
]
See also
* Russian separatist forces in Donbas
* Somalia Battalion
The Somalia Battalion (russian: Батальон «Сомали») is a separatist military unit of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic in Ukraine, which has been fighting against the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Donbas War and the 2022 ...
* Sparta Battalion
The Sparta Battalion (russian: батальон «Спарта») is a Russian separatist military unit of the breakaway Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine. It has been fighting against the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Donbas ...
* 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine
From the end of February 2014, demonstrations by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place in major cities across the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity, which resulted in the succes ...
* Regionalism in Ukraine
References
Works cited
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prizrark Brigade
Military units and formations established in 2014
Pro-Russian militant groups
Separatist forces of the war in Donbas
2014 establishments in Ukraine
Paramilitary organizations based in Ukraine
Military of the Luhansk People's Republic