Odessa Brigade
The Odessa Brigade, or officially the Separate Brigade of Special Purpose "Odessa" or OBrON "Odessa", was a pro-Russian militia in the war in Donbas. It originated as a militant anti-Maidan group which emerged in the Ukrainian city of Odesa in 2014. It emerged within the pro-Russian "Odesskaya Druzhina" movement which was involved in the 2014 Odesa clashes. Following this event, members of "Odesskaya Druzhina" (and others from Odesa and Russia) reorganized themselves into a separatist militia in the Donbas, fighting on behalf of the Luhansk People's Republic in the war in Donbas. The unit was disbanded in January 2015, probably as a result of inter-separatist power struggles. History Origins in the 2014 Odesa clashes The important port city of Odesa (also spelled "Odessa") in Ukraine was one of the locations where pro-Euromaidan and anti-Maidan groups clashed during the Revolution of Dignity of 2014 and the following period of pro-Russian unrest. Radical pro-Russian demonstrators in Odesa mobilized into a militant movement, referred to as "Odesskaya Druzhina". There were other militant groups besides "Odesskaya Druzhina" such as the similarly named "People's Druzhina of Odessa"; The militants generally shared extremist right- or left-wing viewpoints, with "Odesskaya Druzhina" being identified by openDemocracy as being