Wikipedia

3rd Air Assault Battalion (Ukraine)

3rd Separate Air Assault Battalion "Phoenix" is a battalion of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces and is subordinated to the 79th Air Assault Brigade. It was established in 2014 as a volunteer formation. It has seen combat in multiple battles during the War in Donbass and Russian invasion of Ukraine including the Shyrokyne standoff, during which it faced significant casualties.

3rd Air Assault Battalion
3-й десантно-штурмовий батальйон «Фенікс»
Battalion Insignia
Active2014-present
Country Ukraine
Branch Ukrainian Air Assault Forces
TypeBattalion
RoleAerial Assault
Size546 personnel[1]
Part of 79th Air Assault Brigade
Garrison/HQMykolaiv
Nickname(s)Phoenix Battalion
Motto(s)Fire of fierce hearts
EngagementsRusso-Ukrainian War
Commanders
Current
commander		Major Roman Kasianchuk

History

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The battalion's establishment started on 14 August 2014 with the recruitment of volunteer personnel and its equipment was brought from donations by organisations, corporations and civilians of Mykolaiv in addition to ten BTR-80 being transferred to the battalion from the Separate Presidential Brigade.[2]

In November 2014, the battalion was transferred to the ATO zone in Mariupol, participating in battles near Hranitne and Shyrokyne, directing artillery strikes that destroyed a large scale separatist warehouse in Hranitne containing significant amounts of equipment.[3] as well as providing assistance to the local civilians, organization of a first aid station and a heating system. Its responsibility area also included the coast of Sea of Azov and Port of Mariupol. In November 2014 the first platoon of the battalion defeated a large column of separatists and the next day a large concentration of separatists disrupting the separatist attack on Mariupol, the first and second platoons also destroyed four BM-21 Grad missile launchers that fired on the outskirts of Mariupol on 24 January 2015.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] The battalion also saw intensive combat during the Shyrokyne standoff, before the onset of full on hostilities, on 4 February 2015, the battalion conducted a search and strike operation near Shyrokyne with a group of soldiers entering Shyrokyne but they were ambushed fired upon by ATGMs and small arms, a grenade launcher struck their vehicle killing two soldiers of the battalion (Bohdan Vasyliovych Havelia[14] and Oleksandr Mykhailovych Zaichenko[15]) and multiple personnel were wounded. The battalion was also simultaneously operating in Pisky where a soldier (Mykhailo Mykhailovych Hubrichenko) was killed dur to Mortar fire by separatists on the battalion's positions.[16] On 21 February 2015, Shyrokyne was under attack by separatists using mortars and even tanks, the reconnaissance unit of the battalion was ambushed and a soldier (Yevsyukov Oleksandr Evgenovich[17]) was killed, an operation was carried out the next day to relieve the encircled unit during which another soldier (Vakoliuk Volodymyr Pavlovych[18]) was killed in action.

In April 2016, it was deployed to Marinka with its positions being shelled with heavy weapons on 16 April 2016 during which the battalion lost a lot of equipment and two soldiers were wounded.

On 13 December 2018, while operating in the territory of Joint Forces Operation, a soldier of the battalion (Viktor Kuropiatnyk) was killed by separatist sniper fire.[19]

Structure

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The current structure of the battalion is as follows:

Commanders

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  • Major Semen Koleyinyk
  • Lieutenant Colonel Serhii Pochtarenko
  • Major Roman Kasianchuk

Equipment

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Sources

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References

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  1. ^ Юрий Бирюков: Шаровых квартир для военных больше не будет Archived 21 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Уже через 2 недели 79-я ОАМБ должна получить защищенную технику, но «Укроборонпром» помогать не спешит (Видео) Archived 22 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Миколаївський батальйон "Фенікс" під Маріуполем поніс перші бойові втрати: двоє загиблих і двоє поранених". Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  4. ^ Порошенко наградил николаевского десантника орденом Богдана Хмельницкого
  5. ^ «Гармати хочуть спокою»
  6. ^ У Хмельницькому презентували фотовиставку «Боги війни»
  7. ^ Виставка «Боги війни»
  8. ^ Від нас ідуть найкращі... Загинув офіцер 79-ї десантно-штурмової бригади Рибцов Андрій
  9. ^ У суботу вночі перестало битись серце артилериста капітана Рибцова Андрія Івановича
  10. ^ «Роздав серце кожному»: у Хмельницькому попрощалися з легендарним артилеристом 79 бригади Андрієм Рибцовим
  11. ^ «Спи спокійно, любий друже». У Хмельницькому попрощалися з військовим Андрієм Рибцовим
  12. ^ У ХМЕЛЬНИЦЬКОМУ ПОПРОЩАЛИСЬ З «БАЛУ» — БІЙЦЕМ АНТИТЕРОРИСТИЧНОЇ ОПЕРАЦІЇ ТА ВОЛОНТЕРОМ
  13. ^ Вечір-спомин про Андрія Рибцова — // «Проскурів» 14 березня 2019 https://proskuriv.khm.gov.ua/2019/03/14/вечір-спомин-про-андрія-рибцова/
  14. ^ "Гавеля Богдан Васильович | Полтавська обласна рада". 2017-06-20. Archived from the original on 2017-06-20. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
  15. ^ Зайченко Олександр Михайлович Archived 26 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ Михайло Губриченко Archived 29 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ Євсюков Олександр Євгенович Archived 22 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ Ваколюк Володимир Павлович Archived 28 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ "У Кропивницькому попрощались із загиблим захисником України". Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
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