Order of Battle Deep Dive – 3rd Tank Brigade

• All three are equipped with T-72 variants, mainly T-72AVs and uparmored T-72Bs in various configurations, along with one T-84 Oplot.
• The Battalions’ callsigns, “Alkut”, “Arnaut” and “Udar”, are used more frequently than the numbers, but the correlation between the two could not be determined.
• The Anti-Aircraft Platoons have been seen employing 9K38 Iglas, FIM-92 Stingers and Mistral MANPADS.
• Specific information was found on Battalion Alkut being involved in the opening of the Kharkiv counteroffensive, specifically near Bairak.
• Battalion Arnaut was spotted in the southern front during the same period, so it likely did not take part in Kharkiv maneuvers.

The Brigade also has one Mechanized Battalion, referred to with the callsign “Frank”.

• The Battalion is mostly equipped with BMP-1s, though they do not frequently appear on the Brigade’s social media. Thus, this element might be at a low combat strength.

1st Rifle Battalion is an infantry element of the Brigade, however no further details are currently available.
2nd Infantry Battalion, callsign “Joker”, seems to have been added to the Brigade following the full scale invasion.

• Its equipment could not be determined but it’s likely to be light utility vehicles for transportation.
• This Battalion has possibly been deployed in a task-organized group with, or in the vicinity of, Tank Battalion “Udar”.

36th Separate Rifle Battalion “Steppe Wolves”, originally belonging to the 61st Mechanized Brigade, seems to have been attached to 3rd Tank Brigade for the past several months due to geographical vicinity with other 3rd OTBr elements.

• The employment of a custom-made pickup-mounted MLRS nicknamed “Soroka” in a specific Platoon has been noted, along with mortars.

The Artillery Group is equipped as close to Ukrainian standard as possible.

• 1st Battalion uses 2S1 Gvozdikas (122mm).
• 2nd battalion has 2S3 Akatsiyas (152mm).
• 30th Rocket Artillery Battalion has recently been seen with BM-21 Grad MLRS, though older material shows Bastion-01 vehicles. It is possible that these were moved to a different unit since then (possibly 3rd Assault Brigade).
• The Brigade’s Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion has employed FGM-148 Javelins.
• The BUAR (Headquarters and Target Acquisition Battery) UAV Group of the Brigade seems to be focused on artillery correction and grenade drops.

The Anti-Aircraft Defense Battalion possibly only has ZU-23 AAA guns and MANPADS as no self-propelled missile systems were seen in use by 3rd Tank Brigade.

The Engineer Battalion, among other vehicles, uses BAT-2 tracklayers.

The Maintenance (Repair & Restoration) Battalion has been interviewed by the press in several occasions, showing BREM-1s as their main armored recovery vehicle.

Other elements include a Sniper Platoon, the Recon Company and the CBRN Company.

Other Information

• The Brigade has taken part in task-organized joint training with 22nd Separate Special Purpose Battalion (Separate Presidential Brigade) in multiple occasions. It would not be surprising to see these two units deployed together.
• A Border Guard unit with the code 9951 seems to have operated alongside 3 OTBr in a few occasions.

ORBAT