117th Guards Rifle Division

32nd Guards Mechanized Division (? – 4 Jun 1957)
41st Guards Tank Division (4 Jun 1957 – 1 Nov 1965)
117th Guards Tank Division (1 Nov 1965 – 11 Jan 1968)
117th Guards Tank Training Division (11 Jan 1968 – 1 Sep 1987)
119th Guards District Training Center (1 Sep 1987 – 2000 (?))
62nd Mechanized Brigade (2000–2004)


26th Artillery Brigade
Active1942–present
CountryUkraineUkraine (from 1992)
Branch Ukrainian Ground Forces
TypeArtillery
SizeBrigade
Part ofOperational Command North
Garrison/HQBerdychiv
EngagementsWar in Donbas
Decorations
For Courage and Bravery
Commanders
Current
commander		Lt Col Andranyk Hasparyan[1]

The 26th Artillery Brigade is an artillery formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, based in Berdychiv. It traces its history to the 117th Guards Rifle Division of the Second World War.[2]

After the war, and several redesignations, the 117th Guards Rifle Division became the 117th Guards Tank Training Division. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the 117th Guards Tank Training Division was succeeded by the 62nd Mechanized Brigade, which, in turn, was created 26th Artillery Brigade (based on the Directive of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine from 18.06.2004 № 312/1/014).

The brigade is operating Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzers gifted by Germany and the Netherlands during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, artillery used in the Battle of Bakhmut.[3]


Cold War

In 1945, the 117th Guards Rifle Division became the 32nd Guards Mechanized Division. It moved to Berdichev and later became part of the 8th Mechanized Army.[4]

On 4 June 1957, the division was converted into the 41st Guards Tank Division and the army became the 8th Tank Army. The 76th Separate Tank Training Battalion was disbanded in 1960. On 19 February 1962, the 685th Separate Missile Battalion and 437th Separate Equipment Maintenance and Recovery Battalion were activated. On 11 January 1965, the division was renamed the 117th Guards Tank Division, restoring its World War II number. In 1968, the 129th Separate Guards Sapper Battalion became an engineer-sapper unit. On 1 November of that year, the division became a training tank division and was directly subordinated to the Carpathian Military District. On 1 September 1987, it became the 119th Guards District Training Center.[5]

On 1 December 2000, the training center was disbanded, and its units used to form the 62nd Mechanized Brigade. In 2004, the brigade was converted into the 26th Artillery Brigade.[6]

Structure

As of 2017 the brigade's structure is as follows:

  • 26th Artillery Brigade, Berdychiv
    • Headquarters & Headquarters Battery
    • 1st Self-propelled Artillery Battalion (2S19 Msta-S)
    • 2nd Self-propelled Artillery Battalion (2S19 Msta-S)
    • 3rd Self-propelled Artillery Battalion (2S5 Giatsint-S)
    • 4th Anti-tank Artillery Battalion (MT-12 Rapira)
    • Artillery Reconnaissance Battalion
    • 14th Guard Battalion "Cherkasy"
    • Engineer Company
    • Maintenance Company
    • Logistic Company
    • CBRN-defense Platoon

References

  1. ↑ Sinyelnikova, Yuliya. "Парад і новий стяг: як 26-та артилерійська бригада ЗСУ відзначила своє 15-річчя". www.5.ua. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  2. ↑ Feskov et al 2013, 205.
  3. ↑ "Ukraine battles Russian advance in key town of Bakhmut". www.aljazeera.com.
  4. ↑ Holm, Michael. "8th Tank Army". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  5. ↑ Holm, Michael. "117th Guards Training Tank Division". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  6. ↑ Zonov, Ihor (5 July 2012). "У 26-ї артилерійської бригади - професійне свято" [26th Artillery Brigade celebrates professional holiday]. RIO Berdychiv (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.

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