Special forces of Rosgvardiya destroyed a group of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the Kharkiv region
Rosgvardiya reported on the liquidation of the "sabotage group" and the leader of the Ukrainian territorial defense. According to the agency, in the Kharkiv region, the special forces of the Rosgvardiya noticed people with weapons in their hands and without identification marks, who opened fire in response to the demand to surrender. Theroborona was established in Ukraine in January 2022. Its number is estimated at 130 thousand people, all citizens of Ukraine can enroll there. Recently, the Defense Ministry was allowed to use artillery and operate in combat areas.
The group of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry was destroyed by the special forces of the Rosgvardiya in the Kharkiv region. This was stated by the press service of the law enforcement agency.
The report says that in the forest, special forces found a group of unidentified unidentified men with weapons in their hands heading towards Russian positions. In response to the demand to surrender, these people opened fire, during the exchange of fire they were destroyed.
"When trying to break through, the commandos blocked the enemy from the flanks, after which they destroyed the sabotage group led by the commander with return fire," the Rosgvardiya noted.
After the battle, the special forces found a training camp of the territorial defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Theroborona) nearby. Among other things, positions for shooting weapons, places to rest and several sets of combat equipment were found.
What is theroborona
The Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in its current form were created on January 1, 2022. They are commanded by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky. One theroborona brigade is responsible for one region of the country, there should be 25 of them in total.
The approximate number of theroborona is about 130 thousand people.
- Sergey Sobko, Deputy Commander of the Defense Ministry of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, told foreign journalists.
On February 11, 2022, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Alexey Danilov said at a briefing that the number of members of the defense Ministry in Ukraine should be 2 million people.
"The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has set the task that the number of members of the territorial defense should reach 2 million citizens of our country who will be ready to defend Ukraine if necessary," Danilov said.
However, in fact, theroborona originated in Ukraine in the spring-summer of 2014. Then these were territorial defense battalions, which were subsequently reorganized into motorized infantry and transferred to the brigades of the Ground Forces. The personnel of the rifle battalions were trained in tactical, fire, engineering, medical and special training at military training grounds during military training camps.
The creation of territorial defense does not contradict the rules of warfare and the Geneva Conventions. Before the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, a number of experts claimed that it was unclear how the enemy would perceive the Theroboronists as combatants or partisans. However, after the adoption of the law "on defense" and the subordination of these units to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, volunteers become combatants.
According to Ukrainian media, according to the law, each territorial community can create its own detachments, and every citizen of Ukraine can join them either as a full-time military under a contract, or as a reservist. According to the law, the theroborona detachments will not be sent to the areas of combat operations - their task will be to protect the land of their community if necessary.
The Ukrainian troops themselves sometimes call the Theroboronists "partisans". Confirmation of this can be found in the media of Ukraine.
- a correspondent of the Voice of America reported from Kiev at the end of January 2022 (the organization is included in the list of foreign agents by the Ministry of Justice) (recognized by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation as a foreign agent).
You can use a gun and go into battle
On April 6, the Government of Ukraine allowed the territorial defense forces to use artillery and missiles, and also legally secured the authority to use any small arms and ammunition.
Among other things, the defense can now use grenade launchers, flamethrowers, mines and grenades.
On May 4, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in the final reading a bill allowing the military to involve parts of the defense Ministry to perform tasks in combat areas.
Peter Nikolaev