Guide to Ukrainian fighters online (2/2)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/monitoring/guide-to-ukrainian-fighters-online
Dnipro-1
Dnipro-1 is a volunteer regiment originally set up by the local police directorate in the eastern city of Dnipropetrovsk. Its fighters are now present in Donetsk Region.
The regiment has a sizeable following on Facebook(17,000 followers), where it posts regular news updates complete with photos and videos. One recent example are pictures of a Russian drone shot down by Dnipro-1.
It runs two channels on YouTube: one for general footage from the front line, video clips featuring the regiment's fighters, shared TV news reports, etc., and another exclusively for drone footage (only three clips so far).
The regiment's Crimea unit has a separate account onFacebook (9,000 followers), but front-line updates there are rare.
Dnipro-1 is also followed by 2,600 people on VKontakte, the Russian social network.
Kiev-1
Kiev-1 is a volunteer police battalion set up and run by the Interior Ministry. It is very active on Facebook, where it has 16,000 followers. The battalion shares regular news updates including photos, e.g. of destruction in the conflict zone, its fighters, seized weapons, detained miscreants, etc.
Many of such reports are shared posts by the battalion's commander, MP Yevhen Deydey. Some of the content on his account is extremely graphic, e.g. decomposing corpses discovered in a woodland outside Donetsk.
The Sever battalion focuses on aerial reconnaissance
The battalion has a YouTube account, where it has shared promotional videos urging volunteers to enlist, footage of training and news reports prepared by 5 Kanal TV.
OUN
The right-wing Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) has its own battalion fighting in the east. ItsFacebook page has attracted more than 14,000 likes. It usually posts several updates a day, but few of them have to do with front-line fighting. Instead, they often announce public meetings involving OUN's fighters, funerals of fallen comrades, etc.
The battalion's deputy commander, who calls himself Ivan Petrovych, is also active on Facebook, where he posts frequent updates featuring photos and videos.
The OUN battalion's commander Mykola Kokhanivskyy is present on Facebook, sharing his views about fighting and general politics, as well as news updates.
The battalion's YouTube account is a useful source of footage from the conflict zone. YouTube user Lidiya Huzhva aka LidiyaFilms is affiliated with the battalion and has been posting videos about it.
UNA-UNSO
UNA-UNSO, a long-established right-wing group whose name stands for Ukrainian National Assembly - Ukrainian Nationalist (or National) Self-Defence, has its own volunteer battalion. Its Facebook page carries regular updates, but few of them are about front-line combat. Instead, they focus on UNA-UNSO-related news, recruitment to the battalion, donations, etc. (7,600 followers).
Sich
The Sich battalion is associated with the far-right Freedom party and has 7,600 followers on Facebook. Frequent updates about fighting on the outskirts of Donetsk, with photos.
The battalion is also active on VKontakte (4,000 followers) and Twitter (2,500 followers).
Kievan Rus
Kievan Rus, also known as the Defence Ministry's 11th Battalion, has 7,500 followers on Facebook. This account is run by a support group, which mostly shares updates about donations received or required by the battalion.
It is not to be confused with the 25th Territorial Defence Battalion, also called Kievan Rus (the name for an ancient state which existed in parts of modern-day Ukraine, Belarus and Russia). Its account on Facebookmostly shares updates from other accounts and reports by news websites.
Tornado (formerly known as Shakhtarsk)
Tornado unit (formerly known as Shakhtarsk), run by the Interior Ministry, has 7,000 followers on Facebook. Most of the recent posts are about training activities at the unit.
Sever
Sever battalion has 6,000 followers on Facebook. The unit focuses on aerial reconnaissance, and news updates on its account often feature photographs from the conflict zone, some made by its drones.
St Maria
The battalion is currently active at the town of Artemivsk, Donetsk Region, from where it has been posting news updates, some including photographs. It is affiliated with the right-wing organization Bratstvo (Brotherhood) led by Dmytro Korchynskyy, who is a member of the battalion and has a prominent presence on its Facebook account(4,000 followers).
Many of St Maria's fighters are religious and came from the Azov battalion's unit called the Jesus Christ Hundred. It still has a separate account on Facebook, where many updates are related to St Maria and Korchynskyy.
St Maria is also active on VKontakte.
Artemivsk
Artemivsk has 3,000 followers on Facebook. The account mostly posts appeals for donations and calls for volunteers to sign up, as well as news updates.
The unit posted several videos from Debaltseve on its YouTube account before the town was overrun by Russia-backed separatists.
Ternopil
Ternopil has 2,600 followers on Facebook. Most posts are about donations to the battalion.
Crimea
Crimea has 2,500 followers on Facebook. The battalion mostly comprises Tatars who left Crimea after the region was annexed by Russia. There have been no updates about fighting recently on the battalion's account.
30th Detached Mechanized Brigade
The 30th Detached Mechanized Brigade has more than 2,100 followers on Facebook. It posts one or two updates a month, usually shares of posts made by others.
128th Mountain Infantry Brigade
The 128th Mountain Infantry Brigade has 1,400 followers on Facebook. Most updates are about donations to the brigade.
Kharkiv-1
Kharkiv-1 has 1,300 followers on Facebook. Mostly reports about the unit policing Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city which was hit by a spate of bombings recently. Also updates about donations made to the battalion.
The battalion also has an account on VKontakte.
Poltava
Poltava has a modest following on Facebook, only 670 followers. Most recently, its updates have focused on donations received by the battalion.
Individual fighters
Social media accounts run by individual fighters can also be a source of useful information. Below is a list of some of such accounts:
Vasyl Holoveshchenko aka Callsign Marshall (53,500 followers)
Serhiy Misyura aka Captain Price (39,600 followers)
Oleksandr Gladky (25,500 followers). He claims to be the leader of the Shadows ("Tini" in Ukrainian), a Ukrainian partisan unit which is supposedly active deep in rebel-held territory.
Olena Bilozerska (21,500 followers). Her YouTube channel is also a good source of video.
Tim Zlatkin (7,700 followers)
Oleksandr Mamaluy (4,400 followers)
Yashka Tsygankov (3,500 friends). He recently provoked controversy by sharing photos of a captured rebel fighter with his index fingers amputated.
Leonid Malsov (2,800 friends). He was involved in the capture of two men claiming to be members of the Russian army on 16 May.
Ivan Savelyev (2,500 friends, 700 followers)
Stepan Klimov (486 friends, 322 followers)
Dmitry Yakornov (328 friends, 285 followers). Daily updates, but very few photos.
Serhiy Ka (200 friends at the time of writing)
Dnipro-1
Dnipro-1 is a volunteer regiment originally set up by the local police directorate in the eastern city of Dnipropetrovsk. Its fighters are now present in Donetsk Region.
The regiment has a sizeable following on Facebook(17,000 followers), where it posts regular news updates complete with photos and videos. One recent example are pictures of a Russian drone shot down by Dnipro-1.
It runs two channels on YouTube: one for general footage from the front line, video clips featuring the regiment's fighters, shared TV news reports, etc., and another exclusively for drone footage (only three clips so far).
The regiment's Crimea unit has a separate account onFacebook (9,000 followers), but front-line updates there are rare.
Dnipro-1 is also followed by 2,600 people on VKontakte, the Russian social network.
Kiev-1
Kiev-1 is a volunteer police battalion set up and run by the Interior Ministry. It is very active on Facebook, where it has 16,000 followers. The battalion shares regular news updates including photos, e.g. of destruction in the conflict zone, its fighters, seized weapons, detained miscreants, etc.
Many of such reports are shared posts by the battalion's commander, MP Yevhen Deydey. Some of the content on his account is extremely graphic, e.g. decomposing corpses discovered in a woodland outside Donetsk.
The Sever battalion focuses on aerial reconnaissance
The battalion has a YouTube account, where it has shared promotional videos urging volunteers to enlist, footage of training and news reports prepared by 5 Kanal TV.
OUN
The right-wing Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) has its own battalion fighting in the east. ItsFacebook page has attracted more than 14,000 likes. It usually posts several updates a day, but few of them have to do with front-line fighting. Instead, they often announce public meetings involving OUN's fighters, funerals of fallen comrades, etc.
The battalion's deputy commander, who calls himself Ivan Petrovych, is also active on Facebook, where he posts frequent updates featuring photos and videos.
The OUN battalion's commander Mykola Kokhanivskyy is present on Facebook, sharing his views about fighting and general politics, as well as news updates.
The battalion's YouTube account is a useful source of footage from the conflict zone. YouTube user Lidiya Huzhva aka LidiyaFilms is affiliated with the battalion and has been posting videos about it.
UNA-UNSO
UNA-UNSO, a long-established right-wing group whose name stands for Ukrainian National Assembly - Ukrainian Nationalist (or National) Self-Defence, has its own volunteer battalion. Its Facebook page carries regular updates, but few of them are about front-line combat. Instead, they focus on UNA-UNSO-related news, recruitment to the battalion, donations, etc. (7,600 followers).
Sich
The Sich battalion is associated with the far-right Freedom party and has 7,600 followers on Facebook. Frequent updates about fighting on the outskirts of Donetsk, with photos.
The battalion is also active on VKontakte (4,000 followers) and Twitter (2,500 followers).
Kievan Rus
Kievan Rus, also known as the Defence Ministry's 11th Battalion, has 7,500 followers on Facebook. This account is run by a support group, which mostly shares updates about donations received or required by the battalion.
It is not to be confused with the 25th Territorial Defence Battalion, also called Kievan Rus (the name for an ancient state which existed in parts of modern-day Ukraine, Belarus and Russia). Its account on Facebookmostly shares updates from other accounts and reports by news websites.
Tornado (formerly known as Shakhtarsk)
Tornado unit (formerly known as Shakhtarsk), run by the Interior Ministry, has 7,000 followers on Facebook. Most of the recent posts are about training activities at the unit.
Sever
Sever battalion has 6,000 followers on Facebook. The unit focuses on aerial reconnaissance, and news updates on its account often feature photographs from the conflict zone, some made by its drones.
St Maria
The battalion is currently active at the town of Artemivsk, Donetsk Region, from where it has been posting news updates, some including photographs. It is affiliated with the right-wing organization Bratstvo (Brotherhood) led by Dmytro Korchynskyy, who is a member of the battalion and has a prominent presence on its Facebook account(4,000 followers).
Many of St Maria's fighters are religious and came from the Azov battalion's unit called the Jesus Christ Hundred. It still has a separate account on Facebook, where many updates are related to St Maria and Korchynskyy.
St Maria is also active on VKontakte.
Artemivsk
Artemivsk has 3,000 followers on Facebook. The account mostly posts appeals for donations and calls for volunteers to sign up, as well as news updates.
The unit posted several videos from Debaltseve on its YouTube account before the town was overrun by Russia-backed separatists.
Ternopil
Ternopil has 2,600 followers on Facebook. Most posts are about donations to the battalion.
Crimea
Crimea has 2,500 followers on Facebook. The battalion mostly comprises Tatars who left Crimea after the region was annexed by Russia. There have been no updates about fighting recently on the battalion's account.
30th Detached Mechanized Brigade
The 30th Detached Mechanized Brigade has more than 2,100 followers on Facebook. It posts one or two updates a month, usually shares of posts made by others.
128th Mountain Infantry Brigade
The 128th Mountain Infantry Brigade has 1,400 followers on Facebook. Most updates are about donations to the brigade.
Kharkiv-1
Kharkiv-1 has 1,300 followers on Facebook. Mostly reports about the unit policing Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city which was hit by a spate of bombings recently. Also updates about donations made to the battalion.
The battalion also has an account on VKontakte.
Poltava
Poltava has a modest following on Facebook, only 670 followers. Most recently, its updates have focused on donations received by the battalion.
Individual fighters
Social media accounts run by individual fighters can also be a source of useful information. Below is a list of some of such accounts:
Vasyl Holoveshchenko aka Callsign Marshall (53,500 followers)
Serhiy Misyura aka Captain Price (39,600 followers)
Oleksandr Gladky (25,500 followers). He claims to be the leader of the Shadows ("Tini" in Ukrainian), a Ukrainian partisan unit which is supposedly active deep in rebel-held territory.
Olena Bilozerska (21,500 followers). Her YouTube channel is also a good source of video.
Tim Zlatkin (7,700 followers)
Oleksandr Mamaluy (4,400 followers)
Yashka Tsygankov (3,500 friends). He recently provoked controversy by sharing photos of a captured rebel fighter with his index fingers amputated.
Leonid Malsov (2,800 friends). He was involved in the capture of two men claiming to be members of the Russian army on 16 May.
Ivan Savelyev (2,500 friends, 700 followers)
Stepan Klimov (486 friends, 322 followers)
Dmitry Yakornov (328 friends, 285 followers). Daily updates, but very few photos.
Serhiy Ka (200 friends at the time of writing)