Moscow -

hour after hour, the state of anticipation is increasing in Kherson in preparation for the awaited battle around the city, in light of the escalation of shelling by the Ukrainian forces, and the continuation of the evacuation of civilians from the areas located on the right bank of the Dnieper River, amid indications that this battle will be the decisive and most violent since the outbreak of the war Russian-Ukrainian on February 24.

Amid expectations that the strategic city of Salingrad would be transformed again (which witnessed the most important battles of World War II), the name “Somalia Brigade” reappeared in the Russian and foreign media, after its fighters were able to kill and capture a number of fighters from France, Belgium and Poland as part of an unspecified military operation. its place.

While Russian war correspondents talked about the possibility of talking about the Kharkiv region;

It is where a faction of the Polish Legion and other foreign fighters are based.

According to Russian media, the role of the remarkably named battalion emerged during the recent advances in the Mayorsk region and in the direction of Pervomaisky, and its responsibility for launching attacks, which these means described as effective through the use of drones.

In an indication of this, Denis Pushlin - who is described as the "acting president of the Donetsk Republic" that was recently annexed by Russia - met on October 31 last with a number of the battalion's soldiers, and gave them medals and awards, stressing that the battalion had been since the early days. conflict" with Ukraine in the most important sectors of the front.

Founding roots

The "Somali Battalion", or as it is sometimes called the "Somali Fighters" battalion, is a separate combat corps, although it is considered part of the armed forces of what Moscow calls the "Republic of Donetsk".

The battalion was involved in the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine almost from its inception, in particular in the battles of Slaviansk and Ilovysk, and in the prolonged siege and return of control of Donetsk airport during heavy fighting in September and October 2014. It was commanded by Mikhail Tolstykh, also known as Jevi, Until his death on February 8, 2017.

Although deputies in the Russian Duma accused the Ukrainian intelligence of being behind his killing, the Novaya Gazeta newspaper at the time published an interview with a Russian volunteer who presented himself as a fighter in the Somali battalion, and stated that he and three other fighters from the battalion were among the organizers of the attack that He took the life of Tolstykh, in retaliation for leaving his colleagues during the battle that broke out near the Avdiivka region at the end of January 2017.

Two years earlier, in February 2015 Tolstykh was included in the EU sanctions list.

In June 2016, the Ukrainian Military Prosecutor's Office charged Tolstykh with "committing war crimes, creating and leading a terrorist organization, mistreatment of prisoners of war, unlawful imprisonment and kidnapping."

According to Russian sources, the approximate number of the "Somali battalion" is about 350, and sometimes it reaches about 420 fighters.

In fact, this designation is metaphorical, and it has nothing to do with the Republic of Somalia or the events taking place in it.

It was the commander of the pro-Moscow Donetsk forces, Arsen Pavlov, who was killed in October 2016 and nicknamed "Motorola" because he served in the signaling device, who invented this name because of what he considered a similarity between the battalion fighters and Somali pirates in terms of the lack of stable food supplies In addition to wearing rags instead of military clothes at the time, and the nature of the weapons they were carrying as if they were real pirates, he said.

The effects of bombing carried out by the "Somali Battalion" in one of the districts of Donetsk province (Reuters)

big bet

Armed conflict researcher Nikolai Asafov explains that the "Somali Battalion" showed at various stages that it was among the units most prepared to fight on all fronts in Donetsk, Slaviansko, Kramatorsk, Azov and others, and that its reappearance "is due to its professional management of combat operations in Pervomaisky and on the Avdiivka axis. From which, in particular, the bombing of areas inside Donetsk is carried out."

According to him, this is linked to the preparation for the Battle of Kherson, especially with the intensification of the Ukrainian armed forces' bombardment of the region and their readiness to attack it, which places a big bet on the "Somali battalion", due to the skills it possesses in offensive operations, storming, support, reconnaissance, and the delivery of supplies.


Mobilize and volunteer

In light of the preparations for the strategic battle of Kherson, the number of volunteers for the battlefronts as part of the partial mobilization reached about 13,000 people, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

On September 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization in the country, which included 300,000 who had previously received military training and had certain specializations in the military field and were subject to compulsory conscription.

In Russia, the length of service of contract and volunteer soldiers and those mobilized through partial mobilization to participate in military operations varies.

Volunteers are subject to special criteria and conditions;

If they are not called up for mobilization, they can volunteer as soldiers or take part in hostilities in Ukraine as part of the "voluntary detachment," and citizens of other countries can enlist in the Russian army on contract.

Volunteers are considered to be those who do not meet the criteria for mobilization, but at the same time wish to voluntarily participate in the Russian military operation in Ukraine.

Among them, detachments of volunteers are formed, a formation created specifically for citizens who have expressed their desire to participate in emergency operations, and volunteer detachments can also be used to conduct combat operations.

The volunteer is required to be under the age of 60 and have experience in military service or have passed a training camp, as well as experience in shooting sports or service in a security or military apparatus, or membership in a public hunting organization or Cossack association (an ethnic group of East Slavs who have historically been associated with their interests martial arts).

Members of volunteer detachments receive paid expenses equal to what the military called up for mobilization receive, and upon joining volunteer units, a contract is concluded with them for a period of 3 months or more.