Russian mercenaries called 'Vostok battalion' invade Eastern Ukraine

Notorious Vostok Battalion

Officially disbanded in 2008, see: Wikipedia info.

Unofficially this Chechen group of mercenaries call themselves 'Vostok Battalion'.

Battalion Vostok whose trucks/men arrived in #Donetsk #Ukraine is a notorious Chechen military unit loyal to Putin pic.twitter.com/Sw7s7TqhIF
— Ukraine Reporter (@StateOfUkraine) 25 mei 2014

Vostok Battalion in #Donetsk. More than 120 of them rolled in here on one APC and at least six large trucks. pic.twitter.com/rp5ueDczGl
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) 25 mei 2014

Several Vostok Battalion troops speaking Chechen today. One woman asks one of them, "Where are you from? Russia?" Man's answer: "Chechnya."
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) 25 mei 2014

Terrorists in #Donetsk now also run BTR-80... The men in the convoy say they came straight from the #Caucasus. pic.twitter.com/lvy3wDHUEd
— ConflictReporter (@MiddleEast_BRK) 25 mei 2014

Full video. Chechen troops welcomed by 0,4% of the #Donetsk city population (some 3.000 ppl). https://t.co/xffTmOUOQZ pic.twitter.com/XgBLqqnuRM
— ConflictReporter (@MiddleEast_BRK) 25 mei 2014

Look at this Russian citizen,people,who isnt hiding he’s killing Ukrainians in #Ukraine https://t.co/DntsCSAmnS. RT!! pic.twitter.com/cFAi3IhMWr
— Euromaidan PR (@EuromaidanPR) 24 mei 2014

More info and messages about Vostok in this twitter search.

Yet, Vostok battalion is just one group of many more. Burkonews has an excellent overview of these battalions, where they come from and how they originated. Look here.



Track record in Eastern Ukraine
23-5 Their first recorded mission was to ambush and crush the people's militia Donbas battalion. See the report here (GRAPHIC).

26-5 Occupying Donetsk airport (see report)
This attack has not been going into their favor:

Gruesome. At least 45 dead rebels here at #Donetsk morgue after battle yesterday. One man with leg blown off. pic.twitter.com/A6YAEAvS2Z
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) May 27, 2014

Another thing they did this day: They executed a woman who did not want to cooperate and beheaded her.

27-5 Not very much going on. They fortify their positions in Donetsk around the SBU building.
30-5 Strange enough they cleared the occupied buildings and barricades. Nobody understands why. although they say, it was because the rebels were looting.

31-5

Vostok Battalion strengthening grip on #Donetsk. 2 checkpoints set up overnight on road south, 1 w/ heavy machine gun pic.twitter.com/kpCUjDdi3g
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) May 31, 2014