Photo EXCLUSIVE

Aidar Battalion celebrates second anniversary in Kyiv’s Hydropark

Prev 01 18 Next

About 100 soldiers and veterans, some driving from eastern and western Ukraine, came to celebrate the second anniversary of the Aidar Battalion's establishment in Kyiv's Hydropark on May 3.

It was one of the first volunteer battalions to fight in eastern Ukraine. Many of the original members were part of the Euromaidan self-defense forces who protected the protest movement from police violence.

In March 2015, like other volunteer battalions, the soldiers were reorganized under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. They are now officially known as the 24th Separate Assault Battalion.

Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko was working with Aidar at the time when she was captured by Russian forces near Luhansk. She has since been sentenced in Russia with killing two Russian journalists, something she denies.