page_title: 80th Air Assault Brigade (Ukraine)
section_title: 80th Airmobile Brigade
hierarchical_section_title: 80th Air Assault Brigade (Ukraine) / History / 80th Airmobile Brigade
caption_attribution_description: English: Ruins of Donetsk Sergey Prokofiev International Airport, 16 January 2015.
context_page_description: The 80th Separate Air Assault Brigade is an airmobile formation of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces. The brigade traces its history back to the 80th Airborne Regiment, formed in 1955 as part of the Soviet airborne's 7th Guards Airborne Division. Four years later, the regiment transferred to the 104th Guards Airborne Division. It participated in Operation Whirlwind in 1956 and Operation Danube in 1968. In 1979, the regiment was disbanded and used to form the 39th and 40th Separate Air Assault Brigades of the Soviet Army. The 39th Separate Air Assault Brigade became the 224th Training Center after transfer back to the Soviet airborne in 1990. The training center was taken over by Ukraine in 1992 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and became the 6th Separate Airmobile Brigade in 1995. In 1999, the brigade was reorganized into the 80th Airmobile Regiment, part of the 13th Army Corps. In 2013, the regiment was upgraded and became a brigade. The brigade fought in the War in Donbass, and was redesignated as an air assault brigade in 2015.
context_section_description: On 25 November 2013, the regiment became the 80th Airmobile Brigade. In the spring of 2014, after the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, the brigade covered the Ukraine–Russia border in Poltava and Sumy Oblasts. Between 7–8 April 2014, the brigade relocated to defend the Luhansk Airport. The brigade defended the airport until September, when a Russian attack forced them to retreat. The brigade fought in the battle for Shchastya in June 2014. During a night battle on 17–18 June, 11 personnel from the brigade and the 128th Mountain Brigade were killed. On 1 August, the brigade ambushed a separatist column moving from Sukhodolska to Luhansk, destroying seven tanks, five armored vehicles, 3 BM-21 Grad MLRS, seven cars with ammunition and killing 120–150 separatists. On 5 September, personnel from the brigade and the Aidar Battalion were ambushed between Luhansk and Metalist at Vesela Hora. 40 bodies of men from both units were returned by the separatists after negotiations. 28 unidentified bodies were buried at Starobilsk on 2 October. On the night of 13–14 October, the brigade reconnaissance group repulsed attacks by the separatist Don Battalion, which was attempting to penetrate Ukrainian territory at the 32nd Checkpoint. On 28 October, seven brigade personnel were released from captivity by the separatists.
  The brigade's 3rd Battalion fought in the Second Battle of Donetsk Airport in January 2015. The unit became known as the "Cyborgs" along with other Ukrainian units defending Donetsk Airport. Along with the 90th Separate Airborne Battalion of the 81st Airmobile Brigade, the unit was forced to retreat from the new airport terminal, reportedly under heavy artillery fire and chemical attack. Over 50 soldiers from both units died in the fighting between 19 and 21 January. After the Ukrainian withdrawal from the airport on 21 January, at least 15 soldiers from the brigade were captured by the separatists. Several of the soldiers were subjected to frequent beatings.
  Since at least May 2015, the brigade has been equipped with 28 M1114 Up-Armored Humvees. On 24 August 2015, President Petro Poroshenko presented the brigade a battle flag for bravery and courage during a review in Kiev on the 24th anniversary of Ukrainian independence; by this time, it had been redesignated as the 80th Separate Air Assault Brigade. Brigade Junior sergeant and medic Igor Zinych was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Ukraine on 14 October for his actions in caring for the wounded at Donetsk Airport. On 18 November 2015, the brigade's Order of the Red Star award was removed as part of a general removal of Soviet awards and decorations from Ukrainian military units. In June 2016, a platoon of the brigade participated in the multinational Anakonda 16 exercise at Nowa Dęba training ground, attached to a Polish battalion. In August 2016, the brigade's mortar platoon and some of its staff officers participated in the multinational Flaming Thunder exercises near Pabradė in Lithuania. On 23 August, former brigade commander Andrey Kovalchuk was awarded the titile Hero of Ukraine for his leadership.
  As of June 2017, elements of the brigade, equipped with Humvees, defended positions at Pisky, near Donetsk Airport. On 2 August, brigade commander Colonel Volodymyr Shvorak stated that the losses of the brigade in the Donbass amounted to 104 killed, seven missing, and 542 wounded, most of which were suffered during the defense of the Luhansk airport in late 2014.
caption: Donetsk Airport New Terminal ruins, which the 80th Airmobile Brigade's 3rd Battalion defended during January 2015
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