100+ weapons missing from Dnepr-1 armory
2015-03-25
Posted by: badanov
More than 100 weapons came up missing in a search of the Dnepropetrovsk armory belonging to a volunteer battalion, according to Russian language news reports.
According to a news account from lenta-ru, an inventory conducted by Ukrainian Ministry of Interior investigators found several weapons missing, including RPGs and grenades.
Although the article doesn't state it, the raid was likely the result of an encounter between Ukrainian Security Service troops and members of the Dnepr-1 volunteer battalion Monday which killed one SBU officer. The Dnepr-1 battalion is based in the riverine town of Dnepropetrovsk.
Commander of the battalion, Yuri Bezera said Tuesday his unit was not involved in the shootout at Volnovakha in Ukrainian held Donetsk.
Among the weapons missing were: 34 grenade launchers, nine RPG launchers, five machine guns (probably 7.62x54Rmm PK machine squad medium machine gun) and 16 each 5.45x39mm AK-74 rifles, five rifles (probably 7.62x54Rmm SVD squad sniper rifle), 26 each 9x18mm Makarov pistols, 7 each 9x18mm Fort pistols and 7 sets of handcuffs.
The inventory will result in charges being filed under Article 262, although the specifications were not disclosed in the news account.
Volunteer combat formations such as Dnepr-1 and others have come under criticism from Ukrainian authorities, as they try to find a solution to the end of the war in southeastern Ukraine.
One of the requirements in the latest iteration of the Minsk Ceasefire, known as Minsk II, is that all illegal armed formations must disarm. Originally, this was thought to apply only to the rebels of southeastern Ukraine, but now formations such as Dnepr-1 are under some pressure to maintain higher standards or disarm.
A proposal by the Ukrainian government has been to fold some volunteer units into the Ministry of the Interior as special forces, but so far, little has come of the proposal.
Dnepr-1 is also under pressure because it is funded in part by Igor Kolomoisky, a Ukrainian oligarch and governor of the Dnepropetrovsk oblast. Ukrainian president Piotr Poroshenko reserved his latest criticism for volunteer units Tuesday, characterizing them a "pocket armies", which can be seen as a direct swipe at Kolomoisky.
Units such as Dnepr-1 have gained a reputation as marauding military formations, especially since Dnepr-1 is filled with volunteers from the Ukrainian Right Sector political movement, said to be one of the most violent groups in Ukraine.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com. You can read past articles about the 2014 war in southeastern Ukraina by clicking here.
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