73rd Maritime Special Operations Center named after Koshoovyi Otaman Antin Holovatyi

Area of expertise:

• special reconnaissance;

• maritime special operations;

• boarding operations;

• raids behind enemy lines;

• sabotage and reconnaissance actions in water environments, on land, and in the air.

Formation and heritage

The 73rd Maritime Center was formed on October 1, 2003, on the basis of the 7th Special Forces Brigade of the Ukrainian Navy. In 2016, it became part of the newly formed Special Operations Forces.

Since 2019, the center has been assigned the honorary name of Koshoovyi Otaman Antin Holovatyi.

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International experience and peacekeeping missions

Prior to the full-scale invasion, the center's warriors participated in joint exercises with SOF units of partner countries, including ORBITAL and Night Hawk.

Active cooperation with foreign partners in the field of exchanging experience and analytical data is being implemented in the 73rd Maritime Special Operations Center.

The unit conducts joint exercises with units of partner nations, receives instructional assistance, equipment necessary for performing combat tasks, and modern weapons and gear.

War since 2014: Crimea and Donbas

Since the announcement of the Antiterrorist Operation in April 2014, the center's personnel have participated in numerous special combat operations in eastern Ukraine.

Service members of the Center distinguished themselves during the liberation of Mariupol, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, Siversk, Dzerzhynsk, Marinka, in the battles for Debaltseve, Zelenopillia, Starobesheve, during the withdrawal of ATO units from Ilovaisk, the liberation of Starobesheve and Hrabske in Donetsk Oblast, and performed special tasks in the area of Vuhlehirsk.

On July 21, 2014, a consolidated assault detachment of the Center lightning-fast liberated the entire mining town of Toretsk (formerly Dzerzhynsk) from the Russian occupiers. The battles for the city lasted from morning, and by the evening of July 21, service members of the 73rd Center gained full control and raised the State Flag of Ukraine over the city hall building.

Throughout 2016–2022, they continued to perform combat tasks in the ATO and JFO zones on the territory of Donetsk Oblast.

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Full-scale war since 2022

Since February 24, 2022, during the full-scale Russian invasion, the Center's units have been performing combat missions as assigned. They defended Mariupol under the command of Captain 2nd Rank Mykola Nikonov, who died while performing a combat task. They participated in the defense of Mykolaiv and liberated settlements in the Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. They completed combat missions to liberate the city of Kherson and ensured the unhindered entry of the main Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine into the city. The unit's detachments conducted numerous special operations to destroy personnel, equipment and weapons, enemy ammunition depots, and comprehensive support on the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Sumy, and Kursk oblasts, as well as the elimination of enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups (DRGs) in Odesa Oblast. In 2023, service members of the center performed combat tasks as assigned in the defensive operation of the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast. The most famous special operations conducted with the participation of the unit's service members are:

• the liberation of Snake Island in the Black Sea on July 7, 2022, after a prolonged operation;

• the battle for the airfield of the city of Mykolaiv, which took place on March 7, 2022. When the Russian military tried to capture the Mykolaiv airport, the operators of the 73rd Maritime Special Operations Center stood in their way. Together with comrades from other units of the Security and Defense Forces, the SOF warriors held the airfield, pushed the enemy back from the city, and inflicted heavy losses on them. Thus, the operators of the 73rd Maritime Center prevented the encirclement of the city of Mykolaiv from the north;

• raid actions in the waters of the Black Sea. During Operation "Citadel," combat groups traveled by water to the Russian-captured drilling platform—the so-called "Boyko Towers," 60 km from occupied Crimea. The special forces' main target was equipment related to the operation of Shahed-type drones. After landing and capturing the platform, part of the equipment was dismantled to be handed over to Ukrainian specialists for analysis. The mast with antennas and the "Neva-B" radar station, which monitored the surface situation, was mined and blown up;

• the destruction of Russian and North Korean servicemen in Kursk Oblast in the winter of 2024–2025. Combat group operators of the 73rd Center were among the first to obtain and hand over evidence of North Korean forces' participation on the side of the Russians to the international community (photos and video footage of the destroyed enemy, their personal belongings and documents, as well as DNA samples).

Heroes and successors

More than 500 service members of the unit have been awarded state and departmental honors for the successful execution of combat missions.

Eight service members of the unit hold the title of Hero of Ukraine with the award of the "Gold Star" Order, and ten service members of the unit hold the high title of People's Hero of Ukraine.

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