On April 8, the spokesperson of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic’s Ministry of Defense, Eduard Basurin, made an extraordinary claim: an “Islamic brigade” with as many as 500 fighters had been deployed to the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol and was working with the 36th Naval Infantry Brigade.

Even more shocking, according to Basurin, they had taken control of Mariupol’s port and were facilitating the illegal trafficking of chemical weapons to unidentified Middle Eastern countries.

“We have discovered the arrival of an Islamic battalion with as many as 500 people in Mariupol. This battalion will be operating in the zone of responsibility of [Ukraine’s] 36th Separate Naval Infantry Brigade. The battalion is tasked with security over warehouses of rocket-artillery weapons, and also taking control of Mariupol port, which has become a transit point for the illegal arms trade, including chemical weapons, with countries of the Middle East. The battalion is deployed on Bakhchivandzhi Street. The handler of the battalion is a commander of a company of the Ukrainian National Guard, Major Karpenko.” — Eduard Basurin (April 8, 2017)

What exactly is Basurin talking about with this “Islamic battalion,” and is there even a grain of truth to these extraordinary claims?

Local reaction

Most locals in Mariupol reacted to the announcement with tears — but tears of laughter, not fear. On one local VK group, the first three replies to a post on Basurin’s comments were: “Oh, ridiculous,” “Oh daaaaaaang, how can I even leave the house now?” and a comment making fun of the idea of a “Major Karpenko” — with a very Ukrainian-sounding name — becoming the commander of this so-called Islamic battalion.

Later on in the comment thread, a few users showed up to defend the validity of the idea that an Islamic battalion could have suddenly appeared in their city.

Basurin’s statement made two main claims, one specific, the other general. The specific claim was the stationing of an “Islamic battalion” on a named street in Mariupol; the general claim was that of chemical weapons trading.

The specific claim quickly provoked skepticism. Some Mariupol locals started wondering about the logistics as presented by Basurin: where is there a base on Bakhchivandzhi Street big enough for 500 people to move in and start working?