| 80th Separate Guards Reconnaissance Battalion "Sparta" named after A. S. Pavlov | |
|---|---|
| 80-й отдельный гвардейский разведывательный батальон «Спарта» имени А. С. Павлова | |
 | |
| Active | 2014 – present |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch |  DPR People's Militia(2014–2022) Russian Ground Forces (2022–present) |
| Role | Special Forces |
| Size | Battalion |
| Part of |  51st Guards Army |
| Garrison/HQ | Donetsk |
| Nickname | Motorola's Division |
| Patron | Arsen Pavlov |
| Engagements | |
| Battle honours |   Guards |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Denis Shundikov |
| Notable commanders | Arsen Pavlov † Vladimir Zhoga † Artem Zhoga |
| Insignia | |
| Alternate sleeve insignia |  |
| Flag of the Sparta Battalion | .svg) |
| Former flag of the Sparta Battalion |  |
| 2nd alternative sleeve insignia | .svg) |
TheSparta Battalion (Russian:батальон «Спарта»,romanized: batalyon "Sparta") or80th Separate Guards Reconnaissance Battalion "Sparta" named afterA. S. Pavlov (Russian:80-й отдельный гвардейский разведывательный батальон «Спарта» имени А. С. Павлова,romanized: 80-y otdelny gvardeysky razvedyvatelny batalyon "Sparta" imeni A. S. Pavlova; MUN 08806) is aspecial purpose unit of theRussian Armed Forces. Until 2023, the unit was part ofRussian people's militia military unit of the Russian republic ofDonetsk People's Republic (DPR) in easternUkraine. The unit has been fighting against theArmed Forces of Ukraine in theDonbas war and the2022 Russian invasion. Formed in 2014, it was initially led by the Russian-bornArsen Pavlov (callsign "Motorola") until his death in October 2016, and then byVladimir Zhoga (callsign "Vokha"), fromSloviansk,[2] until his death in March 2022.[3]
The battalion took part in theBattle of Ilovaisk andSecond Battle of Donetsk Airport and several others.[4][5] According toForeign Policy, the Sparta Battalion has "a reputation for ruthlessness".[6] It has committedwar crimes in the Donbas. The battalion has been described asRussianultranationalist,[7] and the European Eye on Radicalization notes that it uses a combination ofRussian imperial symbols and "symbols of the Spartan military culture, well-known drivers of thefar-right".[8]
Arsen Pavlov's Sparta unit was initially part to the1st Slavyansk Brigade before being separated into its own reconnaissance battalion subordinate to the1st Army Corps.[9]
According to Ukrainian and Russian sources, the battalion was formed in August 2014 in Donetsk, based on the previously existing anti-tank/MG troop led by Pavlov which earlier reportedly participated inBattle of Ilovaisk along withIgor Strelkov's "volunteer" forces.[10][11][12]
In 2014, the battalion took part in theBattle of Ilovaisk.[10][13]
In 2015, it fought in theSecond Battle of Donetsk Airport, alongside other units of the DPR People's Militia.[13][14][9] During this battle, its fighters were filmed capturing Ukrainian soldiers (who were later paraded through Donetsk, where they were attacked by locals), and transporting the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers.[15] Pavlov made Ukrainian POWs carry the bodies of other Ukrainians because, he said, "it's not our job to recover dead bodies, it's our job to make them."[15]
In January 2015, it participated in theBattle of Debaltseve.
In March 2016, it was in the armed skirmish inDokuchaievsk.[16]
In September 2016, the group was deployed into Lugansk People's Republic, with the stated aim of preventing an anticipatedcoup d'état.
In late 2016, it was deployed atSergey Prokofiev airport in Donetsk.[17][18]
In autumn 2022, the Sparta Battalion participated in the capture of the village ofOpytne alongside the1st Slavyansk Brigade.[9]
The battalion took part in:
In February 2015, UkrainianSSU started an investigation into allegations ofwar crimes committed in January 2015 by the Battalion and its leader Arsen Pavlov, with charges including murder, bullying, torture and forcing people into slave labor.[20][21][22]
In April 2015 Russian deputy director of the Europe and Central AsiaAmnesty International, Denis Krivosheev, blamed Pavlov for killing and torturing UkrainianPOWs[23][24] captured at Donetsk airport.[13] According to Krivosheev, Pavlov said in an interview to theKyiv Post that he killed UkrainianBranovitsky Igor [ru] who was prisoner of war at the time of his detention and who suffered several facial wounds and was not able to walk.[24][25][26] In a controversial tape which was published onYouTube in April 2015 which features voices of both of theKyiv Post's journalist and a voice allegedly belonging to Pavlov, with the latter claiming to have killed 15 prisoners when the journalist asked him about Branovitsky, saying “I’ve shot 15 prisoners. I don't give a shit. No comment. I kill whoever I want.”[27][22][13] Amnesty called for thorough investigation of the crime.[24] A surviving Ukrainian POW interviewed by theBBC said he had seen Pavlov shooting Branovitsky.[28] In June it was reported by a Ukraine official thatInterpol refused to put Pavlov on theirwanted list on the grounds of the "political nature of the Motorola case".[29][30]
In 2016, aVice News journalist described being told by Sparta members about Ukrainian corpses still at Donetsk airport, which Sparta members had forced Ukrainian POWs to bury in 2014.[18]
Members' names were posted onFacebook on 5 April 2015 by Vyacheslav Abroskin, head of Donetsk Oblast's police. At least 40 names were listed.[22] Its membership reportedly includes foreign fighters fromMoldova.[31]
In March 2022, the Battalion's commander Vladimir Zhoga was killed atVolnovakha in the course of theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[32][33] He was posthumously awarded the title of "Hero of the Russian Federation" by Russian presidentVladimir Putin.[34]
The sub-units of the battalion are approximately following:
German anti-extremist news websiteBelltower described the militia asRussian ultranationalist andirredentist.[37] The battalion flies the black-yellow-white flag of theRussian Empire and, according to the European Eye on Radicalization, the unit "uses a combination of symbols of the Spartan military culture, well-known drivers of thefar-right, and from theTsarist era".[8][38]
Its flag includes a letter "M." According to a fighter interviewed byThe Independent, this is "because it is dedicated toMotorola, our commander... a DPR hero".[17]
The Ukrainian newspaperSegodnya noted how the stylized red "M" looks identical to the logo of theSparta Rangers, a fictional faction of élite soldiers in theMetro 2033 videogame.[39]Dmitry Glukhovsky, writer and creator of theMetro series, condemned the use of the name and symbol in a radio interview.[40] The non-fictionalMoscow Metro (the central setting of Glukhovsky's fictional universe) uses a similarly stylised "M".
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Собранный как противотанковый бронебойный, отряд вскоре разросся.
Pavlov arrived in Ukraine in February 2014. According to Igor Strelkov, Pavlov was a member of the so-called "militia" in Crimea and was selected to join a group of soldiers headed for the Donbas... Beginning on April 10, 2014, Pavlov led small units to the most intense combat areas around Slovyansk. During that time, "Motorola" recruited enough fighters to expand his unit from 40 members to 200. During Strelkov's retreat from Slovyansk, Pavlov's subdivision covered the main army's movements. In August 2014, after Strelkov left the Donbas for Russia, Pavlov took charge of the Sparta Battalion and took part in some of the war's most violent battles.
