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Union of Donbas Volunteers (UDV)

The Russia-based Interregional Social Organization Union of Donbas Volunteers (UDV) is officially, a 14,000-member organization largely composed of “veterans” of Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine and dedicated to supporting those same veterans. UDV was founded by Vladislav Surkov the ex-long-time advisor to President Vladimir Putin who was previously in charge of Russia’s policy in Ukraine. The U.S. designated Surkov in March 2014.

The Union of Donbas Volunteers was established in Russia, the new organization’s head and former prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Borodai, announced on 27 August 2015. "The organization is undergoing registration," Borodai said. "We are planning the union’s first congress in late September." Any Russian national who took part in the Donbas events may join the union, he added. According to Borodai, the number of Donbas volunteers varies between 30,000 and 50,000. "Russian volunteers should be socially protected and united, that is why we are establishing this organization."

In October, the first congress of the new organization was held, with its main official goals stated as uniting, employing and helping the “volunteers” who fought in the Donbas. UDV management and membership never concealed the fact that their employer is Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov (who was at that time the main curator of the Ukrainian issue). Surkov’s personal interest in the UDV’s activities is also confirmed by the fact that this organization is financed by his business partner Sergei Aleksandrovich Astanin (General Director of the Foundation for Support and Development of Education and Culture of the Nations of the World).

By 2016, the internal conflict between the FSB and Russian Presidential Administration led to the FSB’s Information Security Center (which, among others things, is connected to Malofeyev through the “League for Secure Internet”) had emegred. UDV leadership instructed its territorial subdivisions to set up a network of private security firms in Russia, as well as in the occupied Crimea, which whould resolve the issue of employing former militants and, more importantly, providing them with access to legal weapons. It should be noted that this process provoked quite a strong opposition from the local FSB units, since security companies are traditionally the home territory of the retired security officials, that is, the niche has long been occupied. Time will tell, which of the Kremlin towers will win.

The Union of Volunteers of Donbass was created to unite and provide assistance to the defenders of the civilian population of Donbass. The main goal of the Union is a worthy representation and protection of the interests of Donbass volunteers. In the course of its activities, the SDV solves the following tasks:

• Organization of medical care for the wounded and sick volunteers, militias and members of their families;
• Organization and implementation of social support for volunteers, militias and members of their families;
• Assistance in the employment of volunteers and militias;
• Return of the bodies of dead volunteers to their homeland, assistance in organizing the burial;
• Delivery of humanitarian aid to the population of Donbass;
• Perpetuation of the memory of volunteers who died defending the civilian population of Donbass;
• Assistance to the families of fallen volunteers;
• Providing legal support to the militias who came to Russia;
• Organization of military-patriotic education of the younger generation on the example of the Second World War and the heroes of recent time;
• Holding mass events of a military-patriotic orientation;
• Information support for the activities of volunteers and militias of Donbass, support for the military-patriotic education of children and youth;
• International cooperation with public organizations that maintain and develop friendly relations with Russia

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the UDV has taken active part in recruiting and deploying fighters for combat missions to “demilitarize and de-Nazify” Ukraine. UDV combat units contracted with the Russian Ministry of Defense and UDV members were tasked with providing direct support for Russian military actions, including by clearing and securing territory and providing security.

The UDV is also taking part in operations against Ukrainian military units. The UDV has also performed reconnaissance operations such as intelligence-gathering and scouting for Russian forces, including identifying locations for Russian military strikes against targets in Ukraine. Similar to other Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, UDV units have suffered from a lack of equipment, tactical failures, and insufficient training.

According to State Duma deputy and head of the Union of Donbass Volunteers Oleksandr Borodai, the Union of Donbass Volunteers mainly deals with reservists, diluted military personnel. These reservists are poorly trained and morally unstable, so they surrender more and more often. As for foreign mercenaries, some of their detachments in the Izyum direction are quite active, the parliamentarian pointed out. “We recently encountered a small detachment of Turkic mercenaries who had previously carried out our army stronghold. We lost it, but we got it back and with our help this strong point is being restored," Borodai said.

The executive director of the Union of Donbass Volunteers, Andrey Pinchuk, said that veterans of the Donbass war were again ready to go to the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics due to the escalation in the region. Pinchuk said that the organization has already begun to form units to participate in the defense against Ukrainian aggression.

The Union of Donbass Volunteers is recruiting people into private military companies. This was stated in an interview with URA.RU by the former Minister of Defense of the Donetsk People's Republic Igor Strelkov. “They do not form any detachments and there will not be any volunteers there. They will send people to PMCs, who will obey them, ”said Strelkov.

The head of the Ural branch of the Union of Donbass Volunteers Maxim Khlopin, in a conversation with URA.RU, called Strelkov an “Internet troll”. “The volunteer movement is not an enterprise. This is a state of mind. We did not go there under the flags of some organizations, we went voluntarily, because we are volunteers. And if tomorrow the genocide of the Russian people begins on the territory of Donbass, I will pack my things and go,” Khlopin said. He added that the Union is a public organization and does not recruit into PMCs.

The UDV was designated by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on 28 June 2022 pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being responsible for or complicit in, or for having directly or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in, activities that undermine the peace, security, political stability, or territorial integrity of the United States, its allies, or its partners, for or on behalf of, or for the benefit of, directly or indirectly, the GoR.

OFAC also designated 16 leading officials of the UDV, including the UDV’s Russia- and Dubai-based Chairman Alexander Yuryevich Boroday, the former self-proclaimed prime minister of the U.S. sanctioned so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DNR) and a member of the U.S.-sanctioned State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, as well as UDV Executive Director Andrei Yuryevich Pinchuk, the former head of the so-called DNR’s security apparatus.

Boroday and Pinchuk were both designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being or having been a leader, official, senior executive officer, or member of the board of directors of the UDV. Boroday was previously designated by OFAC in July 2014 and again in March 2022 pursuant to E.O. 13662 and E.O. 14024, respectively. He is also sanctioned by Australia, Canada, the EU, Japan, Switzerland, and the UK. Pinchuk is sanctioned by Australia, Canada, the EU, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the UK.

OFAC designated the following individuals pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being or having been a leader, official, senior executive officer, or member of the board of directors of the UDV:

1. UDV board member and former head of the so-called DNR’s military police Viktor Yuryevich Anosov, who is also sanctioned by Australia and Canada;
2. UDV board member Aleksey Nikolaevich Chumakov;
3. UDV chief auditor and former deputy of the so-called “Luhansk People’s Republic’s” (LNR’s) security apparatus Yuriy Viktorovich Daniltsev;
4. UDV deputy chief of staff Dmitriy Vladimirovich Dzinikashvili; Boroday’s aide and UDV’s Southern Military District representative Tamerlan Borisovich Enaldiev;
5. UDV’s representative in Crimea Dmitriy Vasilyevich Khavchenko;
6. UDV informational department head Mariya Vasilyevna Koleda;
7. UDV board member Olga Ivanovna Kulygina, whom Ukraine’s security services arrested in 2015 for allegedly transporting arms from Russia to the Donbas for Russia’s U.S.-sanctioned Main Intelligence Directorate (the GRU);
8. UDV’s so-called DNR representative Anastasiya Viktorovna Kuznetsova;
9. UDV’s so-called LNR representative Nadezhda Vitalyevna Lashkaryova;
10. UDV board member Roman Yuryevich Lenshin, the former commander of the so-called LNR’s border troops;
11. UDV board member Oleg Ivanovich Pugachyov, who previously served as deputy commander of a Russia-backed proxy battalion accused of committing war crimes, including torture and summary execution, against Ukraine’s soldiers in 2014 and 2015; Deputy chairman of UDV’s Council of Commanders Yuriy Valeryevich Shevchenko, who previously commanded a Russia-backed proxy brigade; and
12. UDV chief of staff Aleksey Petrovich Sosonnyy, also a former commander of a Russia-backed proxy battalion.