Russian irregular units in Ukraine

Russia's invasion effort has left the military strapped for volunteers to join the armed forces. In an attempt to circumvent this, Russia has employed a number of tactics to garner more recruits. The largest is to have Russian companies and organizations that are directly or indirectly tied to the Russian government to raise mercenary groups. The basis of these formations is that the higher pay and more stringent recruitment methods will garner more interest and volunteers from civilians, mainly veterans, who have not already joined the war effort. ==Private military companies==

Gazprom-affiliated companies Fakel, Plamya and Potok are voluntary military formations, founded in 2023 by the Russian state run gas monopoly Gazprom subsidiary Gazprom Neft, as a more loyal alternative for the Wagner Group, which at the time had just begun clashing with Russian high command on issues of supplies and tactics. Fakel and Plamya reportedly are directly subordinate to the Russian Ministry of Defence, while Potok joined Redut PMC, a PMC which is also controlled by the Russian MoD. Although the company has no official political affiliation, several members stated they are fighting to restore the Russian Empire. The company hires primarily from Gazprom employees, who are promised that their old jobs are guaranteed for them when they return, and a large portion of the fighters are Gazprom security guards. The group consists of "experienced military advisers and experts" that provided "military-technical support" to the separatist forces. On November 11, 2022, former Roscosmos director Dmitry Rogozin announced that he was the new leader of the group shortly after his ousting from the agency. The unit works closely with the Russian Military–industrial complex to develop and test new technology in a "baptism of fire in the Donbas." The group's self stated goal is to restore the glory, and the borders, of the Russian Empire. The group has seen front-line combat during the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive where they performed a failed defensive action against the Ukrainian 47th Mechanized Brigade over the village of Lobkove. Uran The Uran (Уран) battalion is a PMC owned and operated by the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, and received international attention on June 16, 2023, when the agency released a recruitment video for the group styled like a trailer to a First-person shooter. The unit is named after the planet Uranus and has put an emphasis on their loyalty to the Russian state in an attempt to sway Wagner group fighters to join them after the Wagner Group rebellion. Mercenaries in the battalion receive a signing bonus of $1,200 and a monthly salary of $3,000. The group has ties to a Moscow based MMA club, and the Shield and Sword patriotic and veteran organization. The unit has yet to see front-line combat in the war, and its existence, and Roscomos' active recruitment for the group, has strained international space cooperation, namely with NASA and the policy of Russian membership in the International Space Station. The group has put an emphasis on recruiting from the 170,000 employees of Roscosmos, with their recruitment videos playing throughout Roscosmos installations. Redut PMC Redut PMC is a Russian Private Military and Security Company (PMSC) that is part of the "Antiterror-family"—which consists of similarly named PMSCs that protect commercial operations of Russian companies. It is deployed in the Russian invasion and was deployed in the Balkans, Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. Wagner Group Patriot Created as a more "specialized" alternative to Wagner, Patriot has modeled itself after the American Blackwater PMC by hiring only young ex-military paid $2,500. Founded and led by former Colonel General Leonid Ivashov who also leads the Honor and Motherland patriotic organization and is a chairman of the All-Russian Officers' Assembly. The unit has seen combat around Vuhledar, but have also been sent to Sudan, Gabon, and the Central African Republic. E.N.O.T. A collection of far-right, ultra-nationalist guns for hire active from 2014 until its founder, Igor Mangushev, was killed in Ukraine in 2023. • The "Ural" PMC was founded and led by Igor Altushkin, a Russian oligarch. As its name suggests, the group is reportedly composed of volunteers from the Urals. According to Russian state media, the company has fought near Kreminna. Reportedly, at one point Altushkin attempted to recruit from Russian prisons, but was blocked from doing so by Yevgeny Prigozhin of the Wagner Group. • PMC "Bokarev" (or "Bokareva") is a private military company that was likely founded and operated by Russian billionaire oligarch Andrei Bokarev. The PMC was first mentioned in April 2023 by Yevgeny Prigozhin. Little else is known about the unit or their operations. • "Sparta" and "Demon" are two other private military companies. • "Cascade" is founded and led by prominent Anti-Maidan oligarch Dmitry Sablin. the unit is named after an operational-reconnaissance combat detachment from the Soviet–Afghan War. Six members of the State Duma from United Russia claimed to be members of the group including: Dmitry Khubezov, Sergei Sokol, Oleg Golikov, Oleg Kolesnikov, and Evgeny Pervyshov. ==Militias==

Storm Ossetia Storm Ossetia was a militia in service to the Russian Armed Forces raised from volunteers from North Ossetia–Alania. Consisting of 300 personnel, the unit saw combat near Lobkove during the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive, forming a first line of defense for the Russian units there. They were able to hold onto the village for five days until their position became untenable and they were ordered to retreat. During the chaos of the retreat the unit would find themselves encircled and were "liquidated" to the last fighter, including their deputy commander Aivengo Tekho. Pavel Sudoplatov Battalion Raised by pro-Russian collaborators in Russian occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the unit is named after Pavel Sudoplatov, a member of the NKVD from Melitopol that assassinated the leader of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists, Yevhen Konovalets, was involved in the assassination of Leon Trotsky and performed espionage on the Manhattan Project. The battalion was raised in 2022, and is led by Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian installed governor of Zaporizhzhia, with his son being a prominent member of the battalion. Volunteers for the battalion are paid $5,000 and the group claims to have volunteers from Serbia, North Macedonia, and Turkey. Akhmat battalions On 26 June 2022, Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of the Chechen Republic of Russia, announced the creation of four "Akhmat" military battalions. He claimed this would help reduce unemployment in the republic. ;Sever-Akhmat (North-Akhmat) is one of the four volunteer "elite special forces" Akhmat units raised by Ramzan Kadyrov on June 26 that has seen combat in Ukraine. In May 2023, Kadyrov claimed that Sever Akhmat had taken over Wagner Group positions in Bakhmut, taking over their role in the Battle of Bakhmut. Prior to this, earlier in May, the unit was reported as performing rear-guard policing operations behind Russian lines. Adam Delimkhanov claimed that the unit saw combat around Marinka and were being commanded by Apti Alaudinov. Russian state news agency TASS reported that the unit captured Ukrainian positions in the village of Novomykhailivka in the Donetsk Oblast on January 26, 2023. In late May 2023, it was reported that Sever-Akhmat soldiers were involved in a prisoner exchange with Ukraine for members of the Azov Brigade captured at the Azovstal. On 30 July 2023, Kadyrov reprimanded journalists who reported "mass deaths" within the unit, insisting that the unit is still fully functional and seeing active combat in the battle for Bakhmut. ;Yug-Akhmat Yug-Akhmat (South-Akhmat) is one of the four volunteer "elite special forces" Akhmat units raised by Ramzan Kadyrov on June 26. Kadyrov claimed the unit was trained by the Spetnaz at the Russian Special Forces University and had been sent to the front on September 19, 2022. On May 19, 2023, the unit was reported to have been transferred to the Zaporizhzhia front. ;Vostok-Akhmat Vostok-Akhmat (East-Akhmat) is one of the four volunteer "elite special forces" Akhmat units raised by Ramzan Kadyrov on June 29. Russian state news agency TASS reported that the unit was sent to the front on September 17, 2022. Kadyrov claimed that the unit destroyed a Leopard 2 tank on July 8, 2023. Kadyrov also claimed that the unit might be sent to defend the southern border of Chechnya, in an interview where he was questioned for ordering the installation of air defense in the region. In June, Kadyrov announced that the unit's barracks in Chechnya would double as a patriotic youth center. On 15 August it was reported that the unit is subordinate to the 42nd Guards Motor Rifle Division and has been sent to Southern Ukraine as part of the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive to defend Russian positions south of Orikhiv. Bashkortostan Regiment Numbering nearly 2,500 personnel, Bashkortostan's government has reorganized their volunteer units to have a new central command, after a lack of success of sending their four battalion sized units into combat independently. This new unified regiment has 12 volunteer units under its command and completed training on 15 August and were sent to the front in Southern Ukraine. ;Shaimuratov Battalion A volunteer unit from Bashkortostan formed by the "Veterans of the Marine Corps and Special Forces of the Navy", a veterans fraternal organization, at the end of May 2022. The unit was reported to consist of 250 men who are paid $3,775 monthly. The Institute for the Study of War reported that the unit was deployed to the front from August 25 to 27, and on the 26 received blessings from members of the Russian Orthodox Church. They also reported that when volunteers contracts expired, they were denied being sent home, instead being pressed into further service without pay or compensation. Odessa Brigade The formation of the "Odessa Brigade" or "Odessa Volunteer Brigade" () was announced on social media in July 2022, accompanied by claims that Russian forces were still planning to conquer Odesa and Mykolaiv. This unit was led by Ihor Markov, an Odesa native and well-known local collaborator. He claimed that the unit mostly consisted of locals like himself. He had led the "Rodina Party", a local pro-Russian party, In May 2023, Ukraine charged Ihor Markov with high treason for his role in setting up the second "Odessa Brigade", spreading pro-Russian propaganda, and recognizing the Russian invasion as being legitimate. Head of North Ossetia–Alania Sergey Menyaylo was personally involved in the unit's creation and visited the unit on the front and reportedly suffered from a concussion. The unit is equipped with at least one T-62 tank. The "Arbat" Battalion was sent to the front on 2 July 2023 after a sendoff ceremony in the Armenian Cathedral of Moscow. Russian milbloggers speculated that the battalion may be made up of Russian Armenians, Abkhazian Armenians, and volunteers from Armenia proper. On February 3, 2025, an explosion at a luxury apartment complex in Moscow killed the battalion's founder Armen Sarkisian. The Security Service of Ukraine has claimed that all members of the battalion are convicted criminals recruited from Russian prisons from Sarkisian's criminal contacts. He said that the "recruits" would obtain Russian citizenship. The Moscow Battalion was created in January 2023 by Russian athletes and sports fans from Moscow with their first spotting on the front coming on 30 September 2023, when they were seen operating in the vicinity of Kreminna as part of the Luhansk Oblast campaign. Minor battalions from Russian federal subjects The Russian federal government launched an effort in July 2022 to have the federal subjects of Russia launch their own volunteer battalions. On 17 July 2023, the Republic of Tatarstan reportedly formed three new volunteer battalions. The first was the "Hero of Russia Damir Islamov" Battalion, named after posthumous Hero of Russia Damir Islamov who was killed in 2022 in Ukraine. He was a senior lieutenant of a tank platoon that "demonstrated courage and heroism" when he was killed in action. The second was the "Hero of the Soviet Union Boris Kuznetsov" Battalion, and the third was an unnamed battalion that would only consist of contract soldiers. The battalion is named after Red Army general Vasily Margelov, a Belarusian from what is today Dnipro. The "Vladlen Tatarsky" Battalion was named in honor of the Russian milblogger Vladlen Tatarsky, who had been recently assassinated at the time of their formation. The battalion has seen combat around the town of New York in Donetsk Oblast as part of the Southern Military District, operating UAVs. The Oplot-1 Battalion was created by the Cossack veterans organization Oplot on 19 August 2023. ==Paramilitary==

Combat Army Reserve The Combat Army Reserves was created by the Ministry of Defence in 2015 as an analogous organization to the British Territorial Army or the United States Army Reserve with members being paid a salary per a three-year or a one-and-a-half-year contract, and participating in at least a month per year of part-time training, with the prospect of being called to active duty in the event of war. However, at the start of the invasion, all 20 available BARS units were mobilized and sent into combat, numbering 10,000 reservists. The average age for a BARS soldier is 45 and 70% have previously served in the military. BARS soldiers have complained about lack of pay, poor equipment and denial of medical service or military benefits. Rosgvardiya The Rosgvardiya, formally known as the National Guard of the Russian Federation, was established in 2016 via a Presidential Decree (Executive Order) by President Putin. Early in January and February 2022, there were reports of Rosgvardiya detachments moving to the Russia–Ukraine border and Belarus, joining the supposed "training exercise", going during the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis. When Russian forces invaded Ukraine, Rosgvardiya troops started to move into Ukrainian territory, establishing themselves in occupied cities and towns, reportedly for suppressing local hostile population. The Rosvgardiya has been used to detain Ukrainian protestors and has been accused of firing on unarmed protestors. ==Penal==