Ukraine Thread

[Sarmatian]

1. I don't know what you mean by "resurrection", I repeat: National Guard was called Internal Troops until it was renamed. In fact it is the same Berkut that was on Maidan in winter. Sometimes there were tensions reported between ex-Berkuts and newly recruited volunteers in training camps but once they were on the battle field the tensions were forgotten.
2. Since National Guard is in fact spetznaz and it is more fit for military actions than much neglected, underfinanced and often badly trained army, it is natural that it bears the brunt of fighting. Yet there are some elite army detachments (like paratroopers or marines) which are up to the task, so they are in the thick of fighting as well (for example, in Donetsk airport, Debaltseve and others). There is no trust distinction as you would like to find between different kinds of troops.

From what I've read, National Guard was formed at the beginning of the nineties and laid to rest by Kuchma in 2000. It was reactivated in March 2014. It is supposed to be a light infantry type of unit, under control of Interior Affairs.

Another big issue are Territorial Defense units, bulk ofwhich was also formed from volunteers post Maidan. They were under control of Interior Affairs as well, until recently when they were transferred to the Army, iirc. Just how big is their composition in the units fighting in the east I really don't know.

It seems that both were hastily assembled as Maidan government has little faith in the army after they surrendered/refused to fight several times.