33rd Mechanized Brigade

33rd Mechanized Brigade is a military unit of Ukraine’s Ground Forces and part of the 20th Army Corps. The brigade was originally formed in 2016 in Uzhhorod as part of the Reserve Corps, and in March 2016 it began training at the Rivne training grounds. By June 2016, the brigade had completed the final stage of combat coordination. At some point afterward, the brigade was demobilized and remained only on paper.

Following the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the 33rd Mechanized Brigade was reactivated. The unit was formed on the basis of the Uzhhorod Territorial Recruitment Center, with many personnel drawn from the mobilization reserve of the 14th Mechanized Brigade. The official date of its creation is considered December 22, 2022, despite the brigade’s prior existence.

A tank battalion equipped with Leopard 2A4 tanks from the 4th Tank Brigade was reassigned to the 33rd Mechanized Brigade upon its arrival in Ukraine on February 24, 2023.

On June 7, 2023, the brigade entered combat near Mala Tokmachka, taking part in the counteroffensive of the Defense Forces in southern Ukraine. It fought near Orikhiv, Robotyne, and Verbove.

On June 9, 2023, during an assault near Mala Tokmachka in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the brigade’s deputy commander, Lieutenant Colonel Andriy Boyko, was killed.

From August to October 2023, after heavy fighting, personnel of the 33rd underwent rehabilitation in the Kharkiv region. During this period, the 417th, 418th, and 421st Separate Rifle Battalions were incorporated into the brigade, further strengthening its combat capability.

On October 14, 2023, upon returning to the Zaporizhzhia direction, the 33rd launched counteroffensive operations near Novoprokopivka, and by January 2024 it had established positions in liberated Ukrainian territories.

In November 2023, it became known that the 33rd Mechanized Brigade had been reassigned from the 9th Army Corps to the 10th Army Corps.

In January 2024, elements of the brigade were redeployed to the Donetsk direction and placed under the operational control of other military units, with which they fought near Chasiv Yar, Klishchiivka, Avdiivka, and Toretsk.