The 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade "Kholodnyi Yar" (Ukrainian: 93-тя окрема механізована бригада «Холодний Яр», romanized: 93 okrema mekhanizovana bryhada "Kholodnyi Yar") is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces formed in 1992.[1] It has been described as "one of the most brutally effective" of Ukraine’s front-line brigades.[7]
By January 2023, Western analysts claimed that due to captured Russian and donated Western equipment and incorporation of local volunteer battalions into the units structure, the 93rd was the size of an armored division, being a mechanized brigade in name only. The brigade is named after the Kholodnyi Yar Republic, a Ukrainian partisan state during the Ukrainian War of Independence.
History
The brigade traces its history to the 93rd Guards Rifle Division of the Soviet Union's Red Army, formed at Valuki in April 1943 from 13th Guards and 92nd Rifle Brigades. The division fought at Kursk, Kharkiv, Budapest, and Prague, and was serving with the 53rd Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front in May 1945.[12] After a period as a 35th Guards Mechanized Division, and then 35th Guards Motor Rifle Division 1957–65, the division was redesignated as the 93rd Guards Motor Rifle Division in 1965. It served with the Southern Group of Forces in Hungary during the last years of the Cold War,[13] and after the fall of the Berlin Wall was withdrawn to Ukraine from October 1990 to January 1991.
The brigade is now based in Pokrovsk.[15] On 18 November 2015 its honorifics "Twice Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov" were removed as part of an Armed Forces-wide removal of Soviet awards and honorifics, but not its Kharkiv battle honor,[16] given as a result of its participation in the 1943 Belgorod-Khar'kov Offensive Operation. On 22 August 2016 its Guards title was also removed.[17]
In honor of the centennial year of the Ukrainian War of Independence the brigade received its second honorific title, Kholodnyi Yar (Kholodnyi Yar was a pro-Ukrainian partisan self-proclaimed state that existed from 1919 to 1922), in 2018, and thus its Kharkiv battle honour was officially removed from the full title of the unit.[18][19][20][21][22][23][24] A new colour was also received by the brigade command which differs from the maroon colour it received in 2007.
Participation in peacekeeping missions
In the recent history of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the 93rd Division became the first basic unit to train the first units of the peacekeeping forces. The 108th peacekeeping training center was established on the basis of the 112th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the division. Here were formed 15 rotations of the 240th battalion, which performed peacekeeping functions in the former Yugoslavia. On the basis of the 3rd Mechanized Battalion, the 71st Separate Mechanized Battalion was formed to be included in the 7th Separate Mechanized Brigade, which carried out the peacekeeping mission in Iraq in 2004–2005. It was disbanded at the end of training due to the decision to reduce the contingent. A few of its personnel were sent to replenish the 73rd Battalion.[25] Soldiers also served in peacekeeping operations in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Lebanon.
The brigade was deployed in the war in Donbas against the Russian army and its proxy forces. The unit fought on the frontlines from 2014 to 2016 before being recalled in March 2016. During this period, 138 soldiers were killed in action, over 1,000 were wounded, and 9 soldiers were held as prisoners of war.[26] The brigade was involved in the battle of Ilovaisk, Avdiivka, the defence of Donetsk airport, the defence of Marinka, and the defence of Pisky.[5] A documentary, 93: Battle for Ukraine, was made by Ukrainian director Lidia Guzhva about the brigade's role in the war, constructed primarily from videos made by members of the brigade themselves, as well as interviews with members of the brigade.[27]
The brigade returned to the frontline. On 19 July 2016 an IFV of the brigade detonated an IED, killing two soldiers.[28]
In June 2017 the brigade moved deeper into the disputed area near the village of Krymske and set up fortifications there "to exert stricter fire control over the enemy, and provides for a better defense."[29]
Later in the war the 93rd Mechanized Brigade was tasked with the defense of Barvinkove in the Kharkiv Oblast; it was forced out of the villages of Zavody and Velyka Komyshuvakha by Russian troops.[31][6] In August 2022, the brigade liberated the village of Mazanivka southwest of Izium and was noted by journalist David Axe for being one of the few Ukrainian formations actively liberating Russian-occupied territory.[35]
By September 2022, the brigade participated in the 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive specifically moving against the Operational Group of Russian Forces Izium's vulnerable left flank. The Russian Ministry of Defence announced that Russian forces in the Izium region were "pulled out" to reinforce the Donbas. Following this, the city's mayor, Valeriy Marchenko, stated during a September 10 interview that "Izium was liberated today."[36]
In October 2022, the 93rd Mechanized Brigade left Izium for the battle of Bakhmut holding the northern sector of the besieged city while the 58th Motorized Infantry Brigade held the south counterattacking assaults by Russian Wagner Group mercenaries. The brigade recaptured the M03 and M06 highways east of Bakhmut.[7] Heavy casualties have been reported on both sides for units participating in the battle and the 93rd was rotated out of the front and replaced with other units.[37]
Until August 22, 2018, the brigade celebrated its anniversary on May 10, considered the day of creation of the brigade.[43]
Since 2018, August 22 is considered the anniversary, the day when the brigade was awarded the honorary name "Kholodny Yar" by Presidential Decree No. 232/2018 and a new colour was presented.[44]
Symbolics
On January 22, 2018, Roman Donik announced his intention to give the brigade the honorary name "Kholodny Yar", in honor of the historical area with a long military history.[45][46][47][48]
Also, as part of updating the brigade symbols, the anthem of the military unit was changed. The words for the new song were written by a soldier of the press service of the 93rd OMBr, junior sergeant Vlad "Zmiy" Sord,[49] and Serhii Vasylyuk, the frontman of the Ukrainian band "Shadow of the Sun", who wrote the music and set Stafiychuk's poem to it.
On May 10, 2018, the brigade was presented with and consecrated an honorary banner to the new honorary name "Kholodny Yar".[50][51] This is only the second time in the history of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, after the 24th mechanized brigade, when a brigade received an honorary (motivational) flag in addition to the official battle flag.[52][53]
In July 2018, it was announced that knives with the brigade's insignia would be developed for distinguished soldiers.[54]
By Decree of the President of Ukraine dated August 22, 2018, No. 232/2018, the brigade was given the honorary name "Kholodny Yar". Before that, the brigade had the honorary name "Kharkivska".[55][56]
On August 24, 2018, before the start of the military parade in honor of the 27th anniversary of the Independence of Ukraine, the commander of the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade "Kholodny Yar", Colonel Vladyslav Klochkov, received a new battle flag from the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko.[57]
On February 23, 2019, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Viktor Muzhenko, approved the new emblem of the brigade.[58]
On May 6, 2022, the brigade was awarded the honorary award "For Honor and Courage".[59]
^ ab"Полоненого "кіборга" побили "мирні" жителі Донецька" [The captured "cyborg" was beaten by "peaceful" residents of Donetsk]. Ukrainian National Information Agency News (UNN). All online daily news in Ukraine today - fresh, recent, major. Archived from the original on 2016-01-27. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
^"УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ №646/2015" [Ukaz President of Ukraine No. 646/2015] (in Ukrainian). President of Ukraine. 21 November 2015. Archived from the original on 31 August 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
^"УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ №344/2016" [Ukaz of the President of Ukraine No. 344/2016] (in Ukrainian). President of Ukraine. 22 August 2016. Archived from the original on 17 January 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
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