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March 17, 2024

Donbas-Ukraine ceased to exist as a separate unit

The assault battalion became a linear battalion of 54th Mechanized Brigade.

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46th Assault Battalion, also previous known as Donbas-Ukraine or Donbas-ZSU, ceased to exist as a separate entity in the structure of Armed Forces of Ukraine. This was reported by several volunteers familiar with the situation.

The battalion was formed in the winter of 2015 as 46th Special Purpose Battalion “Donbas-Ukraine” by volunteers of the famous Donbas Battalion, who wished to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine instead of the National Guard, where the original Donbas Battalion exists until today. In 2019, the unit was reformed into an assault battalion, and assigned under the command of 54th Mechanized Brigade. At its prime, the battalion had its own tank company, artillery and reconnaissance unit.

The unit reportedly ceased to exist due to short-sighted actions of the commander Serhiy Shcherbakov and the chief of staff Handor Snihyr. Shcherbakov and Snihyr were allegedly inexperienced commanders, who hid their own mistakes and fled to a different unit when problems surfaced to the higher command. According to our information, this happened back in November/December 2022. At that time, the unit was deployed to the north of Bakhmut, and sustained heavy casualties.

46th Assault Battalion became the 3rd Mechanized Battalion of 54th Mechanized Brigade, based on data provided by Donbas Battalion Foundation. The unit, as a separate entity, ceased to exist and military number A3220 was retired.

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Coerenza

https://xxtomcooperxx.substack.com/p/ukraine-war-21-march-2024-showmasters?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2

Can I ask your opinion on this link? Particularly on what this analyst reports about the Ukrainian chain of command

Thank you

Coerenza

The previous article instead addresses the situation on the Russian side. I found its position original in reference to the northern front

Tristan

Tom Cooper is interesting (if you can bear his awful writing style), he has a lot of useful contact with ukrainian/russian sources. But he can exagerate things to re-inforce his POV.

About the Ukrainian chain of command, there are some problems, but I am not sure he is right the Zelensky/Zaluzhny/Sirky/Budanov relationships and strategies

Patrick

The commander of the Norman brigade, Jean-Francois Ratelle (going by the name “Hrulf”) was killed. 

fredki

i served in 54 during 2018-2020. oh man, 46 was a “special” battalion. in 2018 we were stationed on the training field when the entire brigade was hit by an epidemic of hepatitis C or “yellowness”. i caught it as well and was sent to Kharkiv military hospital. Our ward was full of my fellow brigadmen. One of them was from 46. hilariously I was from the 25 territorial defence battalion

fredki

Which was later turned into an infantry battalion. then later was stripped of the status “separate, and turned into a linear infantry battalion of 54 brigade. this guy (from 46) was young. he said he joined DUK when he didn’t even finish school. he was covered with Nordic tattoos and sometimes preached neo-pagan bullshit. And he praised the commander of 46

fredki

for the info, this commander had a controversial reputation. on the one hand, by being a brother of a deputy of the High Council of Ukraine, he was able to provide decent ammunition, tech, and supplies to his battalion (not brigade). on the other hand, as a person, he was full of sh*t. once he was caught singing a n*zi song. when one of his men died by suicide he mocked his decision. and etc

Last edited 8 months ago by fredki
fredki

this young soldier from 46 said that all of this does not matter since 46 is fully combat-ready. for us, from 25 it was an object of envy. we were stripped of all our rights. all our tech was taken away. we were often put in the most inconvenient places on the frontline. while 46 was a “sacred cow”.

fredki

this young guy said they were attached to 54 only for a year (ironically before joining 46 he served in 54, and he hated it). I said it wouldn’t happen since I knew our story of 25. he answered they are special, not like other battalions, they will never be stripped of their special right where are you, dude? sorry for all of this. I am not glad either. there are no reasons to be… Read more »

Coerenza

Thanks