163rd Territorial Defense Battalion

The 163rd Separate Territorial Defense Battalion was a military unit of the Territorial Defense Forces, raised and activated in Nizhyn, Chernihiv Oblast, by the time of the russian full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Under the command of the 119th Territorial Defense Brigade, the battalion took part in battles for the defence of the Chernihiv region in north-eastern Ukraine, until the Ground Forces successfully won and liberated all the Oblast.

In Late 2022 the battalion, with his brigade, was redeployed on the hottest spot in the entire frontline, taking part in the brutal defence of Bakhmut.
At the end of December, Moldovan-born Oleksandr Matsievskyi, sniper from the battalion, was captured by russian forces, following a failed counter attack on the outskirts of Soledar. Invader terrorists held Oleksandr captuerd, and while unarmed and unopposing any resistance, executed their captive. The video of the execution circulated online the following year, showing him without weapons, calmly puffing smoking a cigarette, and saying proudly “Slava Ukraini” in front of the russians filming him, who had already decided to brutally shot with automatic weapons from multiple sides. Before the murder, he was allegedly forced to dig his own grave. Matsievskyi’s body, heavily damaged by shots, was later exchanged and returned, and is now buried in Nizhyn, where he worked as an electrician and where his unit is based.
On 12 March 2023, Zelensky conferred the title of Hero of Ukraine on Oleksandr Matsievskyi: “A Ukrainian warrior. A man who will be known and remembered forever. For his bravery, for his confidence in Ukraine and for his ‘Glory to Ukraine!’”

At some point in 2025, the battalion was disbanded and ceased to exist as a separate unit, being reorganized into the 2nd Linear Territorial Defense Battalion of the Brigade.