Artemivsk Battalion

Artemivsk Battalion was a volunteer unit of the Special Purpose Patrol Police of Ukraine. Its formation began on 2 May 2014 in Dnipro, where volunteers from Artemivsk (now Bakhmut), Donetsk Oblast, assembled for security reasons. The battalion was commanded by Kostyantyn Matieichenko.

As of 5 June 2014, the battalion was staffed exclusively by residents of Donetsk Oblast.

On 1 July 2014, the battalion, together with units of the National Guard of Ukraine, participated in the liberation of Zakitne in Donetsk Oblast. On 4 July, it entered Artemivsk, where it took part in re-establishing Ukrainian control over the city and destroyed the headquarters of pro-Russian forces.

On 27 July 2014, the battalion participated in the liberation of Zaitseve near Horlivka, followed several days later by operations in Mykytivka.

In September 2014, the battalion received heavy equipment, including two T-64B tanks, one BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle, and at least one BRDM-2 armored reconnaissance vehicle.

In July 2015, the battalion became the subject of an investigation into alleged involvement of some of its personnel in facilitating the smuggling of timber into territories outside Ukrainian government control. On 25 July, the head of the Luhansk Regional Military–Civil Administration, Heorhii Tuka, reported the allegations to President Petro Poroshenko, after which the Security Service of Ukraine detained several battalion members.

On 5 October 2015, the Artemivsk Battalion was disbanded by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Selected personnel were subsequently transferred to the newly established KORD special police unit.