Photo exhibit “Volunteer Battalion OUN: Two Years of War” opened at the Lviv Palace of Arts on April 24. The photos captured volunteers’ daily life and their valor and courage in battle. The portraits of the volunteers who gave up their lives fighting hurt like open wounds. Camo netting lining the perimeter and the bullet-perforated road sign “Donetsk” help create the atmosphere of the battle line.
Battalion OUN defends Ukraine’s territorial integrity against the terrorist fighters of the so-called DNR/LNR and Russian occupation troops in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in coordinated cooperation with other units of Ukraine’s army, police, and security service. Volunteers conceived this art event as a way to remind that the war is still going on.
The Day’s FACT FILE
In the summer of 2014 a Combined Arms Nizhyn Territorial Defense Battalion was formed on the basis of the Yevhen Konovalets OUN First Hundred, one of the best disciplined units of Maidan. The battalion set out to the front as part of Azov Battalion. Receiving a refusal to obtain state registration, the leadership of Battalion OUN decided to merge the battalion with the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps “Right Sector.” The battalion’s name was officially changed from “Nizhyn” to “Battalion OUN.” Starting on August 4, 2014 this battalion participated in battles for Savur-Mohyla and the village of Stepanivka. In August 2014 Volunteer Battalion OUN split from the UVC “Right Sector” and became an independent unit under the command of Mykola Kokhanivskyi.
Since August 12, 2014 Volunteer Battalion OUN had been based at the village of Pisky near Yasynuvata in Donetsk oblast. In November 2014 the number of men exceeded 100; the battalion held nine positions in Pisky and one position, from December 31, 2014 through January 20, 2015 at the meteorological station at Donetsk airport. In April 13-18, 2015, due to the Minsk agreements concerning the withdrawal of volunteer battalions from the front line, the bulk of the battalion was withdrawn from Pisky. On July 6, 2016 the battalion was redeployed at Krymske near Novoaidar, where it has been based until today.
