The 32nd Separate Mechanized Brigade "Steel" () is a brigade of the

Ukrainian Ground Forces The Ukrainian Ground Forces (SVZSU, ), also referred to as the Ukrainian army, is a land force, and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It was formed from Ukrainian units of the Soviet Army after Declaratio ...

formed in 2023. Originally the brigade was going to be armed with an unknown number of M2 Bradleys, 10 Czech T-72EA tanks and 90 MaxxPro armored trucks but was later reported to be equipped with older

T-64 The T-64 is a Soviet tank manufactured in Kharkiv, and designed by Alexander Morozov. The tank was introduced in the early 1960s. It was a more advanced counterpart to the T-62: the T-64 served in tank divisions, while the T-62 supported i ...

s and

M113 The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier (APC) that was developed and produced by the FMC Corporation. The M113 was sent to United States Army Europe in 1961 to replace the mechanized infantry's M59 APCs. The M113 was first used ...

History

The brigade was at the stage of formation as of February 2023. It has been involved in the

2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive In early June 2023, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine launched a Counter-offensive, counteroffensive against Russian forces Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupying its territory with a goal of breaching the front lines ...

. In August 2023, it was reported that the brigade had been involved in combat in an area southeast of the city of

Kupiansk Kupiansk or Kupyansk (, ; , ) is a city in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Kupiansk Raion. It is also an important railroad junction for the oblast. Kupiansk hosts the administration of Kupiansk urban hromada, ...

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in eastern Ukraine. Kharkiv borders Luhansk Oblast to the east, Donetsk Oblast to the southeast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the southwest, Poltava Oblast to the w ...

. On 5 May 2025, the brigade was awarded the honorary name "Steel" by decree of President

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

Personnel

According to the Ukrainian TV channel

1+1 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, as of August 2023, a large number of the brigade's soldiers did not have time to receive proper training after mobilization and were sent to frontline positions and allowed to perform combat missions after only two months of training.

Structure

As of 2024 the brigade's structure is as follows: * 32nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, ** Headquarters & Headquarters Company ** 1st Mechanized Battalion ** 2nd Mechanized Battalion ** 3rd Mechanized Battalion * 405riflebat

405th Rifle Battalion ( unit number A4863) ** Tank Battalion ** Artillery Group ** Anti-Aircraft Defense Battalion ** Reconnaissance Company ** Engineer Battalion ** Logistic Battalion ** Maintenance Battalion ** Signal Company ** Radar Company ** Medical Company ** Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Proteccion Company ( CBRN-defense)

References

Military units and formations of Ukraine in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Military units and formations established in 2023 Mechanized brigades of Ukraine {{UGF-stub