The 14th Mechanized Brigade named after Prince Roman the Great (, abbreviated ) is a unit of the Ukrainian Ground Forces formed in December 2014. It is based in

Volodymyr Volodymyr (, ; ) is a Ukrainian given name of Old East Slavic origin. The related Ancient Slavic, such as Czech, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, etc. form of the name is Володимѣръ ''Volodiměr'', which in other Slavic languages became Vladimi ...

as part of

Operational Command West The Operational Command West ( OC West, ) is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces in western Ukraine. Its headquarters is located in Rivne. History When Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union, there were three Military Distric ...

. The brigade has been actively participating in the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, as a result of the Russian invasion in 2022.

History

The 14th Mechanized Brigade was established on December 1, 2014, in Volodymyr, Ukraine and was led by Colonel Oleksandr Zhakun. The brigade was formed from the remains of the 51st Mechanized Brigade and new personnel. The brigade included a reactive artillery battalion, a tank battalion with new tanks from the Lviv Tank Factory, an antitank battery, and a repair battalion. The 1st Territorial Defence Battalion "Volyn" joined the brigade as the 99th Mechanized Infantry Battalion. The brigade was sent to defend

Krasnohorivka Krasnohorivka (, ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It is situated west of Donetsk. As of the 2001 Ukrainian census, 2001 census, it had a population of 16,714. The city has been under Donetsk People's ...

and Marinka in the Donbas region in June 2015. In July 2017, the brigade participated in military exercises in Luhansk region using the UR-77 remote demining technique. On October 14, 2019, the brigade was granted the honorific "

Roman the Great Roman Mstislavich ( – 19 June 1205), also known as Roman the Great, was Prince of Novgorod (1168–1170), Volhynia (1170–1189; 1189–1205), and Galicia (1189; 1198/99–1205). He founded the ''Romanovichi'' branch of Rurikids, which wou ...

", after the twelfth-century ruler of

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

, Volyn, and

Halych Halych (, ; ; ; ; , ''Halitsch'' or ''Galitsch''; ) is a historic List of cities in Ukraine, city on the Dniester River in western Ukraine. The city gave its name to the Principality of Halych, the historic province of Galicia (Eastern Europe), ...

who founded the Romanovich branch of the

Rurik dynasty The Rurik dynasty, also known as the Rurikid or Riurikid dynasty, as well as simply Rurikids or Riurikids, was a noble lineage allegedly founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, who, according to tradition, established himself at Novgorod in the ...

. The 3rd Battalion of the 14th Brigade was involved in blocking roads from

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

towards

Ovruch Ovruch (, ) is a city in Korosten Raion, Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine, first mentioned as Vruchiy in 977. It was the capital city of the Drevlians in the 900s, later conquered by the Mongols in the 13th century, then later part of the Grand D ...

in the

Zhytomyr Oblast Zhytomyr Oblast (), also referred to as Zhytomyrshchyna (), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Zhytomyr. Its population is approximately H ...

in the first days of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. The 14th Mechanized Brigade was involved in several battles of the

Russia-Ukraine war The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

. On March 8, 2022, its tank crews destroyed six Russian tanks in the battle of Makariv. In the same battle, three crew members were killed. On April 13, 2022, the brigade used Bayraktar drones to correct fire on a Russian military column, attacking it with 122mm 21-gerbral volley reactive fire systems. 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 ...

recognized the 14th Mechanized Brigade for its contribution to the Kharkiv offensive, which resulted in the capture 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, ...

and the cities of

Velykyi Burluk Velykyi Burluk () is a rural settlement in Ukraine, in Kupiansk Raion of Kharkiv Oblast. It hosts the administration of Velykyi Burluk settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The population of the settlement is . The settlement was ...

and

Vovchansk Vovchansk (, ; ) is a destroyed city in Chuhuiv Raion, Kharkiv Oblast, northeastern Ukraine. It hosts the administration of . The Vovcha river, a tributary of the Donets river, runs through the city. Vovchansk had a population of However, th ...

near the Ukrainian-Russian border. The brigade was involved in a pincer attack that led to the capture of Hnylytsia and Artemivka along the

Donets The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets (), is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv ...

. On 12 September 2022, footage was published of the 14th Brigade raising the Ukrainian flag at Ternova in Kharkiv Oblast on the

Russia–Ukraine border The Russia–Ukraine border is the international boundary between Russia and Ukraine. Over land, the border spans five Russian Oblast, oblasts and five Ukrainian oblasts. Due to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in early 2014, the bo ...

. In November 2023, it was reported that the 14th Mechanized Brigade was operating in the

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 ...

near the village of .

Honorary title

On May 5, 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded the unit the honorary "For Courage and Bravery" as a result of their actions during the war.

Structure

As of 2024 the brigade's structure is as follows: * 14th Mechanized Brigade,

** Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters Company ** 1st Mechanized Battalion ** 2nd Mechanized Battalion *** UAV Strike Company "V Legion" ** 3rd Mechanized Battalion ** Tank Battalion ** 1st Motorized Battalion "Volyn" ** 14th Separate Regiment of Unmanned Aviation Complexes ** Field Artillery Regiment *** Headquarters and Target Acquisition Battery *** 1st Self-propelled Artillery Battalion (

2S1 Gvozdika The 2S1 ''Gvozdika'' (, "Dianthus caryophyllus, Carnation") is a Soviet Self-propelled artillery, self-propelled howitzer introduced in 1972 and is in service in Russia and other countries . It is based on the MT-LBu multi-purpose chassis, mount ...

) *** 2nd Self-propelled Artillery Battalion ( M109A4BE) *** Rocket Artillery Battalion (

BM-21 Grad The BM-21 "Grad" () is a self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union. The system and the M-21OF rocket were first developed in the early 1960s, and saw their first combat use in March 1969 during the Sino-S ...

) *** Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion ** Anti-Aircraft Defense Battalion ** Reconnaissance Company ** Attack Drone Unit "Lituny" ("Aviators") ** FPV Drone Unit " Kharon" ** Engineer Battalion ** Logistics Battalion ** Maintenance Battalion ** Signal Company ** Radar Company ** Medical Company ** Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense Protection Company ** Brigade Band

References

{{Ukrainian Ground Forces Mechanized brigades of Ukraine Military units and formations established in 2014 Military units and formations of Ukraine in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Military units and formations of Ukraine in the war in Donbas