Battalion “Vostok” from the DPR will enter the special forces of the Russian Guard

The commander of the Vostok battalion of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Khodakovsky, said that due to the need to integrate into the Russian power bloc, his unit will come under the leadership of the National Guard. According to him, Vostok will become the basis of the special forces of the National Guard in the DPR.

As Alexander Khodakovsky said, in addition to the Russian Guard, Vostok had many “alternative opportunities”, but the choice was made on this department. “We saw people whose goals and objectives fully correspond to our ideas about our mission. Now “Vostok” will become the basis of the special forces of the Russian Guard in the new territorial body, which is being created in the Donetsk People’s Republic, ”Mr. Khodakovsky wrote in Telegram.

He also called on everyone from other Russian regions to join the unit, since “the local resource is already almost squeezed dry.”

Vostok was formed in May 2014 from the Patriotic Forces of Donbass movement, which he created in March of the same year. Oleksandr Khodakovsky used to be the commander of the Alpha special unit of the SBU department of the Donetsk region.

As Denis Pushilin, then chairman of the presidium of the Supreme Council of the republic, said in an interview with The Washington Post, the battalion was formed from local militias. According to Ukrainian media reports, the battalion included former employees of the Ukrainian special services – Alfa and Berkut. Subsequently, Vostok became part of the internal troops of the DPR.

Anastasia Larina