On April 13, 2014, the military actions of war in the east began, after capturing the Sloviansk Donetsk region by Russian sabotage detachments under the command of Igor Girkin. April 30, 2014 acting President of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov instructed the heads of regional administrations to start creating territorial defense battalions in each region of Ukraine. The functions of creating battalions were assigned to the authorities and military commissariats in the regions of each of the regions of Ukraine.