Work of the ‘Fury’ Assault Brigade of the National Police of Ukraine

The **Liut** also spelled **Lyut Brigade** ([Ukrainian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_language): ЛЮТЬ, [lit.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literal_translation) ’Fury’), is an assault brigade of the [National Police of Ukraine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Police_of_Ukraine) formed on January 13, 2023, as a merger of three Special Purpose units from the [War in Donbas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Donbas_(2014%E2%80%932022)).

During the [War in Donbas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Donbas_(2014%E2%80%932022)), Ukraine turned local police, militias, paramilitaries and volunteers from the [Donetsk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donetsk_Oblast) and [Luhansk Oblasts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luhansk_Oblast) that remained loyal to Ukraine into impromptu military formations called special purpose units, that specialized in assault operations. These units were technically part of the [National Guard of Ukraine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Guard_of_Ukraine), however, largely operated independently. During outbreak of the [Russian Invasion of Ukraine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Invasion_of_Ukraine), [Denys Monastyrsky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denys_Monastyrsky), then [Minister of Internal Affairs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Internal_Affairs_(Ukraine)), sought to restructure these units. Many of these units were merged into newer, more professional units, named the [Offensive Guard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offensive_Guard_(Ukraine)). Three special purpose units, the Safari Regiment, Tsunami Regiment, and Luhansk-1 Battalion, which were made up of policemen, were merged to form the basis of the Liut Brigade.

The unit first saw combat during the [Battle of Irpin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Irpin). The nascent brigade was rushed into creation to stop a [Russian advance on Kyiv](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ukraine_campaign), and Netrebko noted that their presence shocked many members of the Ukrainian military, with one soldier coming up to him and asking “The police are at war? How is that possible?” The unit at that point was exclusively police officers, namely from Kyiv’s [Rapid Operational Response Unit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_Operational_Response_Unit) (KORD) unit and largely wore a mismatch of police uniforms and surplus camouflage and used armored cars on loan from local banks as they “became military within a day.”