The 25th Transport Aviation Brigade is a formation of the

Ukrainian Air Force The Ukrainian Air Force ( uk, Пові́тряні си́ли Збро́йних сил Украї́ни) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Its headquarters are in the city of Vinnytsia. W ...

based at

Melitopol Air Base Melitopol is an air base of the Ukrainian Air Force located near Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine. The base is home to the 25th Transport Aviation Brigade flying Ilyushin Il-76M/MD, Ilyushin Il-78 and Antonov An-26 aircraft. The base was ...

History

The unit was established as the 709 Night Bomber Aviation Regiment in

Alatyr, Chuvash Republic Alatyr (russian: Ала́тырь; cv, Улатӑр ''Ulatăr'') is a town in the Chuvash Republic, Russia, located on the Sura River at its confluence with the Alatyr River. Population: 43,161 ( 2002 Census); 43,000 (1968). History Alatyr is ...

at the end of 1941. On 22 November 1942, it was renamed as 25th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, from 1946 — 25th Guards Transport Aviation Regiment. In January 1992 the regiment took the

oath of loyalty An oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to a monarch or a country. In modern republics, oaths are sworn to the country in general, or to the country's constitution. For ...

to the Ukrainian people.

Operations

*In 1993, 3 Il-76 aircraft of the Brigade delivered humanitarian cargo from Cologne to Tbilisi during a Ukrainian humanitarian mission in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. *Supported Ukrainian operations in UN missions in the former Yugoslavia (

IFOR The Implementation Force (IFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peace enforcement force in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a one-year mandate from 20 December 1995 to 20 December 1996 under the codename ''Operation Joint Endeavour''. Background NATO ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

UNPROFOR The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR; also known by its French acronym FORPRONU: ''Force de Protection des Nations Unies'') was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav War ...

and

UNTAES The United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) was a UN peacebuilding transitional administration in the Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia in the eastern parts of Croatia ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

KFor KFOR may refer to: * KFOR (AM), a radio station (1240 AM) licensed to Lincoln, Nebraska, United States * KFOR-TV, a television station (channel 4 analog/27 digital) licensed to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States * KFOR-TV (Nebraska), a defunct ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

), the Middle East (

Southern Lebanon Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa Districts, the southernmost distric ...

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

), and Africa (

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

). *Brigade was involved in a " Ukraine - North Pole - 2000" Ukraine parachute expedition to the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...

in 2000. * Operation "Northern Falcon" is a joint Ukrainian-Danish operation for the transportation of fuel from the US Air Force "Thule" to the Danish Polar Station "Nord" by the military transport aircraft IL-76MD. It has been conducted annually since 2009. *Supported the evacuation of Ukrainian Citizens from Libya in 2011. *Supported the evacuation of Ukrainian Citizens from Syria in 2013. *Supported the evacuation of Ukrainian Citizens from Nepal in 2015. *Airlift support to NATO operations in Mali. *On 8 January 2020, transport aircraft of the 25th Transport Aviation Brigade IL-76 has flown out from the Boryspil International Airport to the crash site of the Ukrainian International Airlines flight which took place near Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. * On 19 January 2020 the bodies of 11 Ukrainian citizens, who died in the crash, were returned to Ukraine in a solemn ceremony at the

Boryspil International Airport Boryspil International Airport ( uk, Міжнародний аеропорт «Бориспіль») is an international airport in Boryspil, east of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It is Ukraine's largest airport, serving 65% of its passenger ...

. The coffins, which were each draped in a

Ukrainian flag The flag of Ukraine ( uk, Прапор України, Prapor Ukrainy) consists of equally sized horizontal bands of blue and yellow. The blue and yellow bicolour first appeared during the 1848 Spring of Nations in Lemberg, then part of the A ...

, were carried one by one from a Ukrainian

Il-76 The Ilyushin Il-76 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-76; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau. It was first planned as a commer ...

military plane.

Aircraft

An-26 The Antonov An-26 (NATO reporting name: Curl) is a twin-engined turboprop civilian and military transport aircraft, designed and produced in the Soviet Union from 1969 to 1986.Gordon, Yefim. Komissarov, Dmitry & Sergey. "Antonov's Turboprop Twins ...

Accidents

*On June 13, 2014, an IL-76 Transport was shot down killing forty

25th Airborne Brigade The 25th Separate Airbone Sicheslav Brigade ( uk, 25-та окрема повітрянодесантна Січеславська бригада) is an airborne formation of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces. It is the only airborne unit of Ukrai ...

troopers near Luhansk, Ukraine. “On the night of June 13–14, firing from an anti-aircraft gun and a large-caliber machine gun, anti-regime forces cynically and treacherously shot down a Ukraine armed forces transport plane IL-76 which was bringing personnel for rotation,” said in a statement posted on the Defense Ministry's official website.

References

Air force brigades of Ukraine {{Ukraine-stub