82nd Air Assault Brigade (Ukraine)

The 82nd Separate Air Assault Brigade (82 окрема десантно-штурмова бригада; 82 ОДШБр; Military Unit Number A2582) is a unit of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces. The brigade is located in Chernivtsi.

History
The brigade's creation was announced as part of an expansion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, alongside the 21st Mechanized Brigade, 22nd Mechanized Brigade, 23rd Mechanized Brigade, 31st Mechanized Brigade, 32nd Mechanized Brigade, 33rd Mechanized Brigade, 49th Artillery Brigade, and the 47th Assault Brigade. Initial reports suggested that, alongside the aforementioned units, the 82nd will be outfitted with older equipment from existing units which are being retrofitted with new Western supplies.

In May 2023 Forbes reported that the 2022–2023 Pentagon document leaks indicated the 82nd would be outfitted with new equipment that Ukraine received. Including 14 Challenger 2s, 90 Strykers, 40 Marders and 24 M119 howitzers. The brigade's core consists of veterans from the 25th Airborne Brigade and the 80th Air Assault Brigade which were trained on the new equipment in the United Kingdom. Forbes has speculated that the 82nd Air Assault Brigade will form part of the spearhead for the anticipated 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The Kyiv Post stated that the Ukrainian military has never acknowledged the existence of the unit and reinforced Forbes reporting that the unit would consist of "about half of [the Ukrainian military's] best NATO-delivered infantry armored vehicles". They stated that whenever the unit sees combat, despite their western equipment and training, they would still be a "green formation fighting together as a unit for the first time."

On 21 June, 2023, the first Challenger 2s were seen in the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive, the only brigade reported to have Challenger 2s is the 82nd Airborne. However, there has been no mention of the units involvement in the counteroffensive so far. This has led the Kyiv Post to speculate that the 82nd is a deception formation, meant to mask the real recipient of the Challenger 2s. On June 14, the Asia Times reported that the Brigade's artillery units were drawn from strategic reserves to assist on the Velyka Novosilka front.

On June 22, Forbes assessed that the 82nd, and the 117th Mechanized Brigade were being held in reserve waiting for a significant breach in Russian lines to allow them to storm Melitopol. On August 16, the Kyiv Post claimed that the unit was "finally in action" and that there was evidence that ″the 82nd Air Assault Brigade is heavily involved in the fight for the village of Robotyne in the western Zaporizhzhia region″.

Equipment
The brigade is armed with tanks Challenger 2 (14 units), Marder 1A3 IFV (40 units), Stryker APC (90 units) and M119 howitzers (24 units).

Structure
As of 2024, the brigade's structure is as follows:


 * 82nd Separate Air Assault Brigade, Chernivtsi, Chernivtsi Oblast
 * Brigade’s Headquarters
 * 3rd Battalion Tactical Group. Formed in 2013 on the basis of 300th Mechanized Regiment.
 * 1st Battalion
 * 2nd Battalion
 * 3rd Battalion
 * Tank Company
 * Artillery Group
 * Headquarters and Target Acquisition Battery "Silver Falcon"
 * 1st Self-propelled Artillery Battalion
 * 2nd Self-propelled Artillery Battalion
 * Rocket Artillery Unit
 * Anti-Tank Unit
 * Anti-Aircraft Defense Battalion
 * Reconnaissance Company
 * FPV Drone Company "Wild Division"
 * Attack Drone Company "Specialists"
 * Engineer Battalion
 * Maintenance Company
 * Logistics Company
 * Signals Company
 * Radar Company
 * Medical Company
 * Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense Company