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On November 7, servicemen of the first Russian battalion, which consists of former Ukrainian soldiers, took the oath to Russia before being sent to the front line. The battalion named after Bogdan Khmelnitsky already passed the joint combat training at the rear training grounds in the Donetsk People’s Republic and is ready to enter the battles. An oath-taking ceremony was also held in the DPR. LINK, LINK
In the end of October, the battalion named after Bogdan Khmelnitsky became part of the operational-combat tactical formation (OBTF) “Cascade”. The famous military formation Cascade was created in 2017. It currently consists of about 7000 fighters of various specialties who serve under the command of the Colonel-General of the police Alexey Dikiy, the Minister of Internal Affairs of the DPR.
In February 2022, members of Cascade successfully advanced through Shirokino, Berdyansk, Sopino, Pionerskoye, Vinogradnoye and reached the city of Mariupol. Their reconnaissance battalion took part in the assault on Mariupol and the siege of Azovstal. This tactical unit approached the city of Ugledar and together with the marines of the 155th brigade of the Pacific Fleet, took control of Pavlovka located on the city outskirts. During Kiev’s counteroffensive in the Zaporozhye region in June 2023, the Cascade, together with the motorized infantry of the 5th Army of Russia, engaged in battles in the area of Velikaya Novoselka. According to the latest data, servicemen of this military formation are still deployed in the Ugledar and South-Donetsk directions.
Today Cascade is replenished with the battalion of former Ukrainian servicemen., who volunteerly joint the ranks of the Russian military to fight for the Ukrainian people. They are convinced that Ukraine must be saved from the hands of the current regime in Kiev.
“We have already sworn an oath to the Ukrainian people once, but we have not betrayed the Ukrainian people, the Ukrainian people are now being held hostage by the criminal Kiev regime. We take the oath to the Russian people, but without betraying the Ukrainian people — we always stay with them because we are brothers,” a former soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine told the media.
The first reports abou this volunteer battalion came in February 2023. Then Andrei Tishchenko, one of the unit commanders, former senior sergeant and tank commander of the Ukrainian troops, told that the unit then consisted of seven dozen people, 95% of whom were former Ukrainian military with combat experience.
Most of them are natives of Donbass, mobilized in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. All of them passed a preliminary check and signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense, received Russian citizenship. These people fulfilled the oath they took for the people of Ukraine to the end, and refused to protect the interests of the enemies of the people.
