93rd Mechanized Brigade (Ukraine)
| 93rd Mechanized Brigade | |
|---|---|
 Sleeve patch for the 93rd Mechanized Brigade | |
| Active | 1943–present |
| Country | Ukraine |
| Branch | Ukrainian Ground Forces |
| Type | Mechanized Brigade |
| Part of | Operational Command East |
| Garrison/HQ | Cherkaske Dnipropetrovsk Oblast[1] Ukraine |
| Engagements | War in Donbass |
| Decorations |  Order of the Red Banner (2) (removed)
 Order of Kutuzov (removed) |
| Battle honours | Kharkiv |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Colonel Vladislav Klochkov |
The 93rd Mechanized Brigade is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. The full name of the Brigade is the 93rd Separate Mechanized Kharkiv Brigade.
History
The Brigade traces its history back to the 93rd Guards Rifle Division of the Soviet Union's Red Army, formed at Valuki in April 1943 from 13th Guards and 92nd Rifle Brigades. The Division fought at Kursk, Kharkiv, Budapest, and Prague, and was serving with the 53rd Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front in May 1945.[2] After a period as a 35th Guards Mechanized Division, and then 35th Guards Motor Rifle Division 1957-65, the Division was redesignated as the 93rd Guards Motor Rifle Division in 1965. It served with the Southern Group of Forces in Hungary during the last years of the Cold War,[3] and after the fall of the Berlin Wall was withdrawn to Ukraine from October 1990 to January 1991.
There it became part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In Decree 925/96(?), Colonel Anatoly Savatiovich Pushnyakov, Commander of the 93rd Mechanised Division of the 6th Army Corps, Southern Operational Command, Ukrainian Ground Forces, was promoted to General-Major.
The division appears to have been redesignated a brigade after 1996 and after 1999.
Throughout 1999, the '93rd Motor Rifle Division' conducted a series of small unit and staff officer exchanges with the 40th Infantry Division of the California Army National Guard.[4]
On December 10, 2007 the Brigade received its Colour by the order of the President of Ukraine.
The brigade fought in the War in Donbass, defending Donetsk International Airport during the Second Battle of Donetsk Airport alongside the 95th Airmobile Brigade.[5]
The brigade is currently based in Krasnoarmiisk.[6] On 18 November 2015 its honorifics "Twice Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov" were removed as part of an Armed Forces-wide removal of Soviet awards and honorifics, but not its Kharkiv battle honor,[7] given as a result of its participation in the 1943 Belgorod-Khar'kov Offensive Operation. On 22 August 2016, its Guards title was also removed.[8]
The Donbass War
The brigade was deployed in the War in Donbass against the Russian army and its proxy forces. The unit fought on the frontlines from 2014-2016 before being recalled in March 2016. During this period, 138 soldiers were killed in action, over 1,000 were wounded, and 9 soldiers were held as prisoners of war.[9]
The brigade returned to the frontline. On 19 July 2016 an IFV of the brigade detonated an IED, killing two soldiers.[10]
In June 2017 the brigade moved deeper into the no man's land near the village of Krymske and set up fortifications there "to exert stricter fire control over the enemy, and provides for a better defense."[11]
Brigade Order of Battle
1997
Division Command and Staff
Guards Company
110th Mechanized Regiment
529th Mechanized Regiment
87th Armoured Regiment
Command and Artillery Reconnaissance Company
198th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment
446th Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion
1039th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment
108th Combat Engineer Battalion
166th Signal Battalion
1119th Logistics Battalion
16th Reconnaissance Battalion
35th Electronic Warfare Company
73rd Repair and Recovery Battalion
89th Medical Battalion
133rd Chemical Battalion
16th Training Area[12]
Military Band
2007
- 1st Mechanized Battalion[13]
- 2nd Mechanized Battalion
- 3rd Mechanized Battalion
- Armored Battalion
Current Structure
As of 2017 the brigade's structure is as follows:
- 93rd Mechanized Brigade, Cherkaske
- Headquarters & Headquarters Company
- 1st Mechanized Battalion
- 2nd Mechanized Battalion
- 3rd Mechanized Battalion
- Tank Battalion
- 20th Motorized Infantry Battalion "Dnipro"
- Brigade Artillery Group
- Headquarters & Target Acquisition Battery
- Self-propelled Artillery Battalion (2S3 Akatsiya)
- Self-propelled Artillery Battalion (2S1 Gvozdika)
- Rocket Artillery Battalion (BM-21 Grad)
- Anti-tank Artillery Battalion (MT-12 Rapira)
- Anti-Aircraft Missile Artillery Battalion
- Engineer Battalion
- Maintenance Battalion
- Logistic Battalion
- Reconnaissance Company
- Sniper Company
- Electronic Warfare Company
- Signal Company
- Radar Company
- CBRN-defense Company
- Medical Company
Awards
- 19?? received the Guards designation.
- 19?? received the Order of the Red Banner
- 19?? received the honorable name «Kharkiv»
- 19?? received the Order of Suvorov
- 19?? received the Order of Kutuzov[14]
- On December 10, 2007 received its Colour[15]
References
- ^ Новини Управління Прес-служби МО
- ^ Poirer and Connor, Red Army Order of Battle
- ^ Michael Holm/V.I.Feskov et al., 93rd Guards Motorised Rifle Division, 2015.
- ^ Globalsecurity.org, Ukrainian National Guard
- ^ "Полоненого "кіборга" побили "мирні" жителі Донецька" [Cyborg brigades beat "peaceful" Donetsk inhabitants]. Ukrainian National Information Agency News (UNN). All online daily news in Ukraine today - fresh, recent, major. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
- ^ Barnes, Julian E. "Kiev's Calls for Restraint Frustrate Ukraine's Front-Line Fighters". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 22 February 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
- ^ "УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ №646/2015" [Ukaz President of Ukraine No. 646/2015] (in Ukrainian). President of Ukraine. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
- ^ "УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ №344/2016" [Ukaz of the President of Ukraine No. 344/2016] (in Ukrainian). President of Ukraine. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "Ukrainian infantry brigade returns home after nearly two years on the frontline". Ukraine Today. Retrieved 2016-06-26.
- ^ "Donbas death toll rises: Ukraine reports 7 KIA, 14 WIA in 24 hours". UNIAN. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
- ^ Ukrainian combat units advance near frontline town of Krymske, Kyiv Post (2 June 2017)
- ^ Новини Управління Прес-служби МО
- ^ Новини Управління Прес-служби МО
- ^ President.Gov.Ua> Archived August 22, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Новини Управління Прес-служби МО