The 18th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (

Military Unit Number A Military Unit Number (Russian: Войсковая часть) is a numeric alternate designation for military units in the armed forces and internal troops of post-Soviet states, originally used by those of the Soviet Union The Soviet ...

27777) was a formation of the

Russian Ground Forces The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces ...

. The brigade was formed in late 2008 from the

42nd Guards Motor Rifle Division The 42nd Guards "Evpatoriyskaya Red Banner" Motor Rifle Division (Military Unit Number 27777, until 1987 MUN 29410; until 2009 MUN 28320)Michael Holm42nd Guards Training Motor Rifle Division accessed February 2015. is a Russian military unit. The ...

and stationed in two bases near

Grozny Grozny ( rus, Грозный, p=ˈgroznɨj; ce, Соьлжа-ГӀала, translit=Sölƶa-Ġala), also spelled Groznyy, is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2010 census, it had a po ...

. The brigade was involved in the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and was combined with two other brigades to reform the 42nd Guards Motor Rifle Division in late 2016.

History

The brigade was formed in late 2008 from the 42nd Guards Motor Rifle Division as part of the Russian military reform and was relocated to

Khankala Khankala (russian: Ханкала, ce, Хан-ГӀала, translit=Ẋan-Ġala) is a settlement in Groznensky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located to the east of Grozny, the republic's capital. Population: The settlement is the lo ...

, near

in Chechnya. In 2013, several units of the brigade were relocated to Kalinovskaya. It inherited the honorifics "Yevpatoria Red Banner" from the division. The brigade was part of the 58th Army in the Southern Military District and included the 1st Mechanized Battalion "Vostok".

Sergey Kuzovlev Sergey Yuryevich Kuzovlev (Russian: Сергей Юрьевич Кузовлев; born 7 January 1967) is a Russian military officer. , he holds the rank of colonel general, and commands the Southern Military District. Biography Sergey Kuzov ...

previously commanded the brigade. A

battalion tactical group A battalion tactical group (russian: Батальонная тактическая группа, ''batal'onnaya takticheskaya gruppa''), abbreviated as BTG, is a combined-arms manoeuvre unit deployed by the Russian Army that is kept at a high le ...

of the brigade was part of the troops in Crimea for the Russian military intervention in Ukraine during April 2014. The brigade's reconnaissance battalion contributed a reconnaissance team to the Russian military intervention in the

War in Donbas War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

from 14 July 2014. The brigade contributed a battalion tactical group from 11 August 2014. In February 2015 it was located in the Northern Operational Area. Between 1 and 2 February, a combined formation of the brigade and other Russian units were involved in combat near

Debaltseve Debaltseve or Debaltsevo ( uk, Деба́льцеве ''Debálʼtseve'', ; russian: Деба́льцево ''Debálʼtsevo'') is a city of regional significance in the ''de facto'' Donetsk People's Republic; ''de jure'' Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. T ...

. After 13 February, the 20th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade's tactical group was reformed into a combined unit with the brigade. In late 2016, the brigade was merged with the

8th Guards Mountain Motor Rifle Brigade The 8th Mountain Motor Rifle Brigade was a formation of the Russian Ground Forces. In 2014–2015 brigade's units participated in the War in Donbas. History Previously the 8th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (not a mountain formation) was active in Tr ...

and

17th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade 17 (seventeen) is the natural number following 16 and preceding 18. It is a prime number. Seventeen is the sum of the first four prime numbers. In mathematics 17 is the seventh prime number, which makes seventeen the fourth super-prime, as ...

to reform the

References

{{Brigades of the Russian Ground Forces Mechanised infantry brigades of Russia Military units and formations established in 2008 Military units and formations disestablished in 2016 Military units and formations of Russia in the war in Donbas