Formation During the
War in Donbas, Ukraine turned local police, militias, paramilitaries and volunteers from the
Donetsk and
Luhansk Oblasts that remained loyal to Ukraine into impromptu military formations called
special purpose units, that specialized in assault operations. These units were technically part of the
National Guard of Ukraine, however, largely operated independently. During outbreak of the
Russian Invasion of Ukraine,
Denys Monastyrsky, then
Minister of Internal Affairs, sought to restructure these units shortly before his death. Many of these units were merged into newer, more professional units, named the
Offensive Guard. Three special purpose units, the Safari Regiment, Tsunami Regiment, and Luhansk-1 Battalion, which were made up of policemen, were merged to form the basis of the Liut Brigade, which would be subordinated to the
National Police of Ukraine (NPU), and later joined by the Myrotvorets, Skif, Zakhid, and Enei Battalions. The NPU views the Liut Brigade, and other units based on police formations as a necessary patch, with NPU chief,
Ivan Vyhivskyi, stating in an interview with
The Washington Post on 17 November 2023, that: "I hope... that with time there will be no need for such a brigade." The brigades first, and so far only, commander is Police
Colonel Oleksandr Netrebko, who, at the start of the invasion, was a veteran during the
War in Donbas who then was an officer on deputation with the Patrol Police branch in Kyiv City. As with other NPU military formations, recruitment targets former members of the police, and members of the Liut Brigade can either use traditional military ranks, or if they were an active or former police officer, could either retain or be restored to their police rank. Members are also promised post-war employment as police officers, and active police members that joined are promised pay raises.
Odesa airstrike On 15 March 2024, an airstrike on Odesa killed 21 individuals, including Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Gostischev, the commander of the Tsunami regiment.
Toretsk The Brigade was heavily deployed in the defence of
Toretsk. Fierce street to street combat broke out. In September 2024 The Lyut Brigade blew up a bridge to stop the Russian advance. ==Structure==