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| 117th Guards Rifle Division (1941 – 1945) 32nd Guards Mechanized Division (1945 – 4 Jun 1957) 41st Guards Tank Division (4 Jun 1957 – 1 Nov 1965) 117th Guards Tank Division (1 Nov 1965 – 11 Jan 1968) 117th Guards Tank Training Division (11 Jan 1968 – 1 Sep 1987) 119th Guards District Training Center (1 Sep 1987 – 2000) 62nd Mechanized Brigade (2000 – 2004) 26th Artillery Brigade (2004 – present) | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Active | July 5, 2004 – present |
| Country |  Ukraine (from 1992) |
| Branch |  Ukrainian Ground Forces |
| Type |  Rocket and Artillery Forces |
| Role | Artillery |
| Size | Brigade |
| Part of | Operational Command North |
| Garrison/HQ | Berdychiv |
| Patron | Roman Dachkevitch |
| Motto | "Last Resort" |
| Engagements | Russo-Ukrainian War |
| Decorations | .svg) |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Serhiy Marceniuk |
The26th Artillery Brigade named after Roman Dachkevitch is anartillery formation of theUkrainian Ground Forces, based inBerdychiv. It traces its history to the 117th Guards Rifle Division of theSecond World War.[1]
After the war, and several redesignations, the 117th Guards Rifle Division became the 117th Guards Tank Training Division. After thecollapse of the Soviet Union, the 117th Guards Tank Training Division was succeeded by the 62nd Mechanized Brigade, which, in turn, was created 26th Artillery Brigade (based on the Directive of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine from 18.06.2004 № 312/1/014).
In May 2019 the brigade was given the honorary name of "Corporal GeneralRoman Dachkevitch" in a decree of PresidentPetro Poroshenko.[2]
The brigade is operatingPanzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzers gifted by Germany and the Netherlands during the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, artillery used in theBattle of Bakhmut.[3]
In 1945, the 117th Guards Rifle Division became the 32nd Guards Mechanized Division. It moved toBerdichev and later became part of the8th Mechanized Army.[4]
On 4 June 1957, the division was converted into the 41st Guards Tank Division and the army became the 8th Tank Army. The 76th Separate Tank Training Battalion was disbanded in 1960. On 19 February 1962, the 685th Separate Missile Battalion and 437th Separate Equipment Maintenance and Recovery Battalion were activated.
On 11 January 1965, the division was renamed the 117th Guards Tank Division, restoring its World War II number. In 1968, the 129th Separate Guards Sapper Battalion became an engineer-sapper unit. On 1 November of that year, the division became a training tank division and was directly subordinated to theCarpathian Military District. On 1 September 1987, it became the 119th Guards District Training Center.[5]
On 1 December 2000, the training center was disbanded, and its units used to form the 62nd Mechanized Brigade. In 2004, the brigade was converted into the 26th Artillery Brigade.[6]
As of 2017 the brigade's structure is as follows:
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1Unless stated otherwise, the brigade is mechanized. | |||||||||||||||||
