801st Special Marine Detachment (Ukraine)

801st Combat Divers Center
801-й окремий підводний протидиверсійний загін
Unit Insignia
Country	Ukraine
Branch	Ukrainian Navy
Type	Special operations
Role	Naval marine warfare
Part of	Armed Forces of Ukraine
Garrison/HQ	Odessa
Engagements	Russo-Ukrainian War War in Donbas Russian invasion of Ukraine
Insignia
Former Insignia
Patches of the unit's squads
Arm patch

The 801st Combat Divers Center is a unit of the Ukrainian Navy and is concerned with underwater special operations as well as combat reconnaissance operations. It is currently based at Odesa and has taken part in multiple engagements during the Russo-Ukrainian War.

History

It was former based at Sevastopol but during the Russian Invasion of Crimea, only seven servicemen from the 80 personnel returned to Ukraine while the rest defected to Russia, the unit was then transferred to *Odessa. ^{[1] [2]}

The unit took part in the War in Donbass. On March 2, 2015, the reconnaissance group of the detachment took part in a battle in the village of Pishchevyk against Russian backed separatists. Two soldiers of the detachment (Oleksandr Streliuk and Oleg Storozhenko) were killed by a grenade attack on their vehicle while inspecting an outpost and two were wounded. ^{[2] [3]}

In January 2018, unit underwent rigorous training exercises with other units. ^[4] On December 6, 2021, the unit received a combat flag from the President of Ukraine. ^[5]

The unit took part in multiple engagements during the Russian Invasion of Ukraine with a soldier of the regiment (Oleksandr Oleksiiovych Tarasyuk) being killed in action on February 24, 2022, near Ochakiv. ^[6]

801st PDSS detachment training in Odessa

Roles

The main tasks of the unit include the protection of naval bases, anti-sabotage operations, counterterrorism and anti-piracy operations. Following are the tasks of the unit.

• Search and Destruction of enemy reconnaissance and sabotage bases.
• Protection of ports, ships, hydraulics and other structures
• Boarding of ships and anti-hijacking operations
• Maintaining coordination with other agencies
• Demining and inspection operations
• Peacekeeping operations

Selection and Training

Selection to the unit takes place in four steps: ^[7]

• Pressure endurance test
• Interview
• Physical training (Cooper test in addition to regular training standards)
• Psychological test

The candidates must be active or former military personnel.

Sources

• 801 окремий загін ПДСЗ
• Книга пам'яті загиблих Archived 28 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine
• 801 ОЗБ ПДСЗ Archived 29 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine
• Медіадень з протидиверсійним загоном ВМС України
• "Навчання бійців 801-го протидиверсійного загону ВМС ЗС України". ukrmilitary.com/. Ukrainian Military. 2018-01-28. Archived from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2018.

References

1. "10 з гаком причин негайно рятувати "ластоногих" (801 зПДСЗ)". Військова панорама. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
2. "Игорь Федирко - 10 з гаком причин негайно рятувати... | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
3. На сході України загинули морські спецпризначенці з Одеси Archived 12 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine
4. "Крымские "морские котики" провели учения в Одессе". sprotyv.info/. sprotyv.info. 2018-01-26. Archived from the original on 2018-01-28. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
5. "У день ЗСУ в Одесі прийняли до складу флоту катери «Фастів» та «Суми» (політика). (рос.) 07.12.2021, 18:29". Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
6. Раїса, Щербан (2023-06-04). "Тарасюк Олександр Олексійович (29.03.1995-24.02.2022) – Революція гідності. Війна. Рівненщина" (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2024-04-28.
7. "Тест Купера". Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2018.