126th Territorial Defense Brigade (Ukraine)

The 126th Independent Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces (126-та окрема бригада територіальної оборони) is a military formation of the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine in Odesa. It is part of Operational Command South.

Formation
Head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration Maksym Marchenko announced that a new Territorial Defense brigade will be formed in Odesa on 5 March 2022. On 8 March the brigade was formed in Odesa. Next day Brigade began accepting reservists. 23 March is the official date of creation of the Brigade. On May 12 the Brigade had already trained additional two thousand troops for the Territorial Defense.

Colonel Larysa Yakobchuk was appointed as a deputy commander for moral and psychological support. She is the first female deputy commander in the Territorial Defense Forces.

Russian invasion of Ukraine
While digging trenches near Odesa in May, units of the Brigade unearthed amphorae, estimated to be from the fourth or fifth centuries BC. All findings were given to the Odesa Archaeological Museum.

Units of the brigade's 220th Battalion held positions near the border of Mykolaiv and Kherson Oblasts in July 2022. Two members of this battalion were killed in action in December 2022 in the village of Olhivka, Kherson Oblast.

The "Chimera" unit is a small close-knit formation made up of soldiers with previous combat experience. They fought near Mykolaiv when the enemy was close. The unit was involved in the liberation of the right bank of Kherson region. The brigade also had two company tactical groups, "Hunter" and "Oscar", helping liberate Kherson oblast.

On 4 December, the brigade received its battle flag.

Ukrainian Marine Corp
In April 2024 126th Brigade has been transferred to the Ukrainian Marine Corps, although the plan to transform the brigade to fully fledged marines are still in discussion, maintaining it's current name.

Structure
As of 2022 the brigade's structure is as follows:
 * Headquarters and Service Company
 * 220th Territorial Defense Battalion
 * "Raider" ("Рейдер") Unit.
 * 221st Territorial Defense Battalion
 * 222nd Territorial Defense Battalion
 * 223rd Territorial Defense Battalion
 * 224th Territorial Defense Battalion
 * 245th Territorial Defense Battalion
 * 246th Territorial Defense Battalion А4437
 * Химера 126 ОБрТрО.png "Chimera" Unit. Commander Oleksandr "Chimera" Kapshin.
 * Engineer Company
 * Signals Company
 * Logistics Company
 * Mortar Battery

Commanders

 * Colonel Serhii Kuts 2022
 * Colonel Vadym Mykha 2023 – present