Representatives of 13 pro-Kiev volunteer battalions and organizations in eastern Ukraine have signed a joint memorandum to establish a headquarters for Ukrainian volunteer forces in Dnipropetrovsk, according to a statement posted to Facebook by the commander of the Donbas volunteer battalion, lawmaker Semen Semenchenko, Interfax reported Feb. 19. This group includes the majority of the volunteer battalions, and the move would formally separate them from the Ukrainian general staff chain of command. Ukraine's volunteer battalions have never been completely subsumed by the Ukrainian security apparatus. They also lack adequate supplies and financing to support themselves. Semenchenko specified in his statement that "this is not a military coup" and that volunteer battalion leaders would coordinate with the Ukrainian general staff and act as a separate source of information for the office of President Petro Poroshenko.