Нормандська бригада

Нормандська бригада was a former foreign volunteer unit that fought alongside various units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

It was founded following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, from the end of February 2022 to the beginning of March 2022. Jean-Francois Ratelle, call sign “Hrulf”, was a former reservist artilleryman of the Canadian Army and founded the unit. He also had previous experience in the French Foreign Legion, which he had joined prior to coming to Ukraine.

Initially, it began as an independent unit or otherwise joined as part of the ranks of the Українська добровольча армія, which had several battalions scattered across the Ukrainian Ground Forces.

On December 2, 2022, the unit announced that it had transferred into the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces, joining the 126-та бригада територіальної оборони. However, this was short-lived. After encountering many administrative inconsistencies throughout 2023, the unit returned to the ranks of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army until November 2023, when they announced they had become the foreign contingent of the 48-й штурмовий батальйон.

In March 2024, it was published by the unit that the commander, Hrulf, had succumbed to the wounds that he received on a mission in Belgorod Oblast, Russia. After that, the Black Maple Unit, formed by other Canadian veterans and servicemen who were willing to defend Ukraine, said that they would continue the legacy of the unit and for Hrulf. Since then, the unit is presumed to have been defunct, with no activity on any of its social channels or any documentation of the unit existing any longer.