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48th Assault Battalion (Ukraine)
Military unit From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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48th Separate Assault Battalion named after "Noman Chelebijihan", also known as the Noman Çelebicihan Battalion, is a battalion of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.[1][2]
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History
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The 48th Assault Battalion, formally part of the 123rd Territorial Defense Brigade, has a storied history rooted in resistance against Russian aggression.[3] Initially formed in 2016 by Crimean Tatar volunteers opposing Russia's annexation of Crimea, the unit was short-lived and disbanded later that same year.[3] However, many of its former soldiers returned to military service following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.[3] The battalion was reconstituted from elements of the 251st Territorial Defense Battalion and named after Noman Çelebicihan, a revered Crimean Tatar political figure.[3]
While many of the battalion’s officers and enlisted personnel are Crimean Tatars, it is not an ethnically homogeneous unit; any Ukrainian citizen can join.[4] Most recruits hail from southern Ukraine and Russian-occupied Crimea, with roots tracing back to participants in the 2015 activist-led blockade of Crimea, which halted Ukrainian cargo shipments to the peninsula.[5] When reformed, the battalion aimed for a strength of approximately 560 members.[5]
In its early days in 2016, the battalion reportedly received support from Turkish volunteers shortly after its founding.[6] During this period, it assisted the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine along the border with Crimea.[7] By the end of 2016, however, the battalion had largely dissolved, with many of its volunteers joining other units or enlisting in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.[8]
The battalion was re-established on February 24, 2022, in response to Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine, as reported by the Crimean News Agency (Qırım Haber Ajansı).[9] In June 2022, the Supreme Court of Russia controversially designated the Noman Çelebicihan Battalion as a terrorist organization—an accusation widely seen as politically motivated.[10]
At the start of December, it successfully expelled Russian forces from the village of Novyi Komar, thwarting their attempts to encircle the nearby town of Velyka Novosilka.[11] Earlier in the year, on January 8, the battalion had been deployed to Pokrovsk. Within weeks, tensions arose when servicemen released an open appeal to Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.[12] They expressed concerns over the sudden replacement of their commander and the lack of adequate intelligence following their redeployment.[12]
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Structure
As of 2025 the regiments's structure is as follows:[2]
48th Separate Assault Battalion:
- Regiment's Headquarters
- 1st Assault Company
- 2nd Assault Company
- 3rd Assault Company
- Shkval Company (Penal company consisting of convicts mobilized for military service)
References
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