The 2nd Separate Mixed Galician Brigade is a brigade of the

National Guard of Ukraine The National Guard of Ukraine (NGU; , ; /NHU ) is the Ukrainian national gendarmerie and internal military force. It is part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, responsible for public security. Originally created as an agency under the dire ...

concerned with multiple roles including the extraction of Ukrainian personnel from the frontlines, logistical and combat support, maintenance of the public law and order, among other roles. It was established on the basis of the 16th Convoy Brigade in February 1992 as the 2nd Convoy Brigade. Its main headquarters is in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

although its units are also stationed in

Ternopil Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia and Podolia. The populatio ...

Uzhhorod Uzhhorod (, ; , ; , ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Uzh, Uzh River in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistan ...

Drohobych Drohobych ( ; ; ) is a city in the south of Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Drohobych Raion and hosts the administration of Drohobych urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. In 1939–1941 and 1944–1959 it w ...

and

Rivne Rivne ( ; , ) is a city in western Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Rivne Oblast (province), as well as the Rivne Raion (district) within the oblast.

History

On 10 February 1992, the 2nd Separate Convoy Brigade of the

Internal Troops of Ukraine The Internal Troops of Ukraine (; ), abbreviated VV (), were a uniformed gendarmerie and Internal Troops in Ukraine. They were subordinate to the Chief Directorate of Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ukraine), Ministry of Internal Affairs (the count ...

was established on the basis of the 16th Convoy Brigade of the

Soviet Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republi ...

, the 14th Separate Battalion of the

was also separately established in

. On 13 September 1999, the 2nd brigade was awarded the honorary name " Galician" and was awarded a battle flag. After the disbandment of the

in 2000, the 14th Separate

Special Purpose Battalion became the 2nd Brigade's 2nd battalion. In 2014, the 2nd Brigade became a part of the

after its reestablishment. It took part in multiple engagements during the

War in Donbass The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war began in April 2014, when Russian paramilitaries seized several towns. Ukraine's military launched an operation ...

. It took part in the

Siege of Sloviansk The siege of Sloviansk was conducted by Ukraine between 12 April 2014 and 5 July 2014. It began when Sloviansk was seized by the fifty-strong unit of heavily-armed Russian militants lead by Russian citizen Igor Girkin. Following three months of ...

and then the

Battle of Debaltseve The Battle of Debaltseve was a military confrontation in the city of Debaltseve, Donetsk Oblast, between the pro-Russian separatist forces of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), and the Ukrainian Armed Forc ...

where on 7 February 2015, a

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 ...

attacked the retreating Ukrainian personnel killing a soldier (Oleg Anatoliyovych Didushko) of the brigade. Also during the

, the commander of the brigade's medical center, Taras Hryhorovych Konchevych, was killed when an unarmed military ambulance was ambushed by separatists and detonated a landmine. The brigade was also involved in humanitarian aid distribution operations in the

ATO zone Anti-Terrorist Operation Zone (), or ATO zone (), was a term used by the media, public, the government of Ukraine, and the OSCE and other foreign institutions to identify Ukrainian territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (oblasts) under the c ...

. On 17 May 2015, a humanitarian aid district vehicle of the brigade was struck and exploded near the village of

Troitske Troitske (, ; , ) is a rural settlement in Sloboda Ukraine, in the Svatove Raion of the Luhansk Oblast of Ukraine. Prior to 2020, it was the administrative centre of the former Troitske Raion. Population: . History Troitske traces its heritage ...

Popasna Raion Popasna Raion (; ) was a raion (district) in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine until its abolition in 2020. The administrative center was the town of Popasna. The last estimate of the raion population was History 20th century On 7 March 1923, the raio ...

, the resulting explosion killed the brigade's deputy commander, Sokolenko Andrii Apollinariovych and another soldier (Ivan Ihorovych Popil), along with two humanitarian volunteers. Colonel Sokolenko Andrii Apollinariovych was awarded the

Hero of Ukraine A Hero of Ukraine (HOU; ) is the highest national decoration that can be conferred upon an individual citizen by the president of Ukraine. The decoration was created in 1998 by President Leonid Kuchma. As of 6 June 2025, the total number of re ...

for his actions. On 8 May 2017, a soldier of the brigade (Yaroslav Vasyliovych Smolinskyi) was killed while serving in

Donetsk Oblast Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...

. The brigade saw combat during 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 ...

. It took part in the Battle of Donbas where a soldier of brigade (Volodymyr Oryshchuk) was killed in

Novokalynove Novokalynove () is a village in the Ocheretyne settlement hromada of the Pokrovsk Raion in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. As of 2001, the village had a population of 521 people. Overview The village is approximately 28 km from the district centre, a ...

. In May 2024, the brigade operated in

Novodonetske Novodonetske () is a rural settlement in Kramatorsk Raion, Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Novodonetske settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Prior to 2020, it was located in Dobropillia Municipality ...

where two soldiers of the brigade (Valery Serebrov and Baba Dmytro) were killed on 23 and 24 May 2024 respectively. It continued to serve in the

where two more soldiers of the brigade (Vasyl Kachynskyi and Babukh Roman) were killed on 3 and 20 July 2024. On 22 August 2024,.a UAV operator of the Brigade (Boris Borisovych Vladimirov) was killed as a result of mortar shelling on

Hrodivka Hrodivka () or Grodivka is a rural settlement in Pokrovsk Raion, Donetsk Oblast, in eastern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Hrodivka settlement hromada. Hrodivka is located northeast of Novohrodivka and east-southeast of Pokr ...

. On 23 August 2024, the brigade was awarded the honorary award "

For Courage and Bravery For Courage and Bravery () is an honorary award established by the President of Ukraine to recognize distinguished combat performance, courage, bravery and heroism of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, National Guard of Ukraine, State Border ...

". On 27 September 2024, a soldier of the brigade (Ostap Smolinets) was killed during the

Eastern Ukraine campaign Ukraine's easternmost oblasts, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv, have been the site of an ongoing theatre of operation since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The battle of Donbas was a major offensive in the easter ...

Structure

* 1st Rifle Battalion (

) * 2nd Rifle Battalion (

) * 4th Rifle Battalion (

) * 5th Rifle Battalion (

) * 15th Separate Battalion (

Rivne Rivne ( ; , ) is a city in western Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Rivne Oblast (province), as well as the Rivne Raion (district) within the oblast.

) * Support Units (

)

Commanders

* Colonel Serhii Petrovych Kulchytskyi (2005–2010) * Colonel Oleg Oleksandrovich Sakhon (2010–2016) * Colonel Petro Yuriyovych Shulyak (2016-)Урочистості з нагоди 77-ї річниці створення 2-ї Галицької бригади Національної гвардії України

Sources

2 Галицька бригада Національної гвардії України відсвяткувала 77 річницю

У Львові 2-га Галицька бригада відзначила 77-річчя (ФОТО)
*
Молоде поповнення прибуло до 2 Галицької бригади

В Ужгороді гвардійці тренуються в новозбудованому «кілер-хаусі»

References

{{Reflist Military units and formations of Ukraine in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Military units and formations of Ukraine in the war in Donbas Brigades of the National Guard of Ukraine Military units and formations established in 1992