61st Mechanized Brigade

61st Mechanized Brigade is a unit of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. It was originally formed on November 10, 2015, as the 61st Motorized Brigade within the Reserve Corps.

In 2017, the brigade participated in military exercises in Chernihiv Oblast and later in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. In 2019, it was reorganized as the 61st Jaeger Brigade and tasked with defending the border with Belarus.

In November 2021, a post published on a Facebook page associated with the brigade stated that illegal migrants crossing the border from Belarus would be “destroyed.” The statement was later clarified as referring to potential enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups disguised as civilians, rather than to civilians themselves. Nevertheless, the rhetoric was amplified by Russian propaganda, prompting Ukrainian officials to deny the existence of a 61st Jaeger Brigade. Officials instead stated that only a 61st Infantry Brigade existed within the Ground Forces and that the Facebook page in question was not an official account. The brigade was subsequently demobilized, leaving only a skeletal personnel structure.

In February 2022, shortly after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the brigade was reactivated and deployed to Kherson Oblast.

In December 2022, the formation was reorganized as the 61st Mechanized Brigade.