42nd Motorized Infantry Battalion is a formation of the
Ukrainian Ground Forces
The Ukrainian Ground Forces ( uk, Сухопу́тні військá Збрóйних сил Украї́ни), also known as the Ukrainian Army, are the land forces of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They ...
. It was originally formed as the 42nd
Territorial Defence Battalion "Rukh Oporu" (from uk, Рух опору – "
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...
") in
Kirovohrad
Kropyvnytskyi ( uk, Кропивницький, Kropyvnytskyi ) is a city in central Ukraine on the Inhul river with a population of . It is an administrative center of the Kirovohrad Oblast.
Over its history, Kropyvnytskyi has changed its nam ...
.
The battalion fought in the
Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Rev ...
.
History
In August 2014 the battalion was involved in an attempt of the Ukrainian command to unblock
encircled forces near Ilovaisk. An assault squad was formed that had 90 soldiers. It was sent from
Kramatorsk
Kramatorsk ( uk, Краматорськ, translit=Kramatorsk ) is a city and the administrative centre of Kramatorsk Raion in the northern portion of Donetsk Oblast, in eastern Ukraine. Prior to 2020, Kramatorsk was a city of oblast significan ...
in direction of Ilovaisk, after it became clear Russian military forces approached Ilovaisk. The unit was supposed to meet a company tactical group of
92nd Mechanized Brigade and try to breach Russian encirclement. The squad arrived on 27 August to
Dokuchaievsk
Dokuchaievsk or Dokuchaevsk (, ; Russian language, Russian: Докучаевск) is a City of regional significance (Ukraine), city of regional significance in the ''de facto'' Donetsk People's Republic; ''de jure'' Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. The c ...
city where it was beefed up with 2
IFVs and advanced towards Ilovaisk. The column stopped in the field for a night and shortly after it was hit by heavy artillery shelling. The next morning it was completely defeated by Russian paratroopers.
References
Territorial defence battalions of Ukraine
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