Formation and early wars The division was formed on the order of the
Revolutionary Military Council of
Soviet Russia on July 26, 1918, from voluntary groups under the name 1st Simbirsk Infantry Division. In November 1918 it was renamed as the 24th Simbirsk Rifle Division. It actively participated in the
Russian Civil War in the
Volga region, in the Southern Urals Mountains, and in
Polissya and
Volhynia. At this time one of its regimental commanders was a future Army General
Maksim Purkayev. In 1922 it was renamed as the 24th Samaro-Simbirsk Iron Rifle Division. In 1924 it was again renamed as the 24th Samaro-Ulyanovsk Iron Rifle Division. In 1939–1940, during the
Russo-Finnish War the division distinguished itself during the breaking of the
Mannerheim Line on the Karelian isthmus.
World War II The division participated in fighting from the first days after the
German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. The division staff showed mass heroism when the German opponents arrived in the Lidy area. It also took part in the
Kyiv defensive operation, and as part of the
21st Rifle Corps and
13th Army, was involved in heavy defensive fighting in Belarus. Reportedly because the
divisional colours were lost in the Minsk area, it was disbanded on December 27, 1941. It was found out later that the instructor of the political department of the division, Senior Commissar A. V. Barbashev had the colour while the division was trying to break out of the German encirclement. Barbashev died on August 6, 1941, near Anyutino village
Cherykaw District Mogilev Oblast. Local farmer D.N. Tyapin later found the stained Colour of the division on the officers corpse. He buried the body and the Colour in the local cemetery. After the clearing of the village of Anyutino by the Red Army, the Divisional Colour was taken out of the cemetery and restored. On February 20, 1944, it was solemnly handed in a
Presentation of Colours ceremony to the 24th Rifle Division (2nd formation). D.N. Tyapin was honoured for having found the division's Colour by being listed on the rolls of the 1st company of one of the division's regiments.
2nd formation The 24th Rifle Division was re-formed on 7 January 1942 by renumbering the 412th Rifle Division, which had been formed in
Kirov Oblast as part of the
Arkhangelsk Military District in December 1941 from the 48th Reserve Rifle Brigade. The 412th included the 1355th, 1357th, and 1358th Rifle Regiments in addition to the 1022nd Artillery Regiment and the 910th Separate Communications Battalions, along with smaller units. It was relocated to the southwestern part of
Vologda Oblast before being renumbered as the 24th. The new division did not inherit the traditions of the Iron Division, although it reused the regimental numbers of the latter. Personnel from the 29th Reserve Rifle Brigade and the 385th Howitzer Artillery Regiment formed the new 24th along with others from the Arkhangelsk Military District. During the war this division was part of armies in the
Western,
Kalinin,
Stalingrad,
Don, and
Southwest fronts, from April until May 1944. In 1945 it was part of the
18th Army of the
4th Ukrainian Front. The Division participated in the
Battle of Stalingrad, the Donbas offensive operation, clearing of Left-bank Ukraine, in
Zhytomyr–Berdychiv offensive,
Kamianets–Podilskyi pocket,
Lviv–Sandomierz offensive, East - Carpathian, Western - Carpathian, Moravia - Ostrava and the
Prague offensive operations. The division's combat actions finished on June 24, 1945, 100 km away from
Prague. The last platoon of the division, led by Captain Klyuyev, took part in the
Moscow Victory Parade of 1945. On July 10, 1945, the division was disbanded, and its number given to the
294th Rifle Division, which became the 24th Rifle Division (3rd formation).
Cold War In June 1957, the 24th Rifle Division became the 24th Motor Rifle Division. The redesignation occurred at
Yavoriv,
Lviv Oblast,
Carpathian Military District, and the division, later brigade, has been based there since that date. On 21 February 1968, it was awarded the
Order of the October Revolution. Then-Major
Igor Rodionov commanded a motorised rifle regiment in the division (the "Iron Division") in the
Carpathian Military District from 1970 to 1973. In 1982, the division was to be upgraded to an army corps (on the lines of the
5th Guards and 48th Guards in Belorussia and the Transbaikal), but the plans were cancelled. The division was used as a testbed for new equipment. By the late 1980s the division's honorific titles included "Samaro-Ylyanovskaya, Zheleznaya, Berdichevskaya, four times Red Banner orders of the October Revolution, Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitskiy Motorised Rifle Division." In 2003 the division was redesignated as 24th Mechanized Brigade "Daniel of Galicia". The brigade fought in the
war in Donbas in 2014 and 2015. In September 2014 elements of the brigade were alleged to have abandoned their positions after suffering heavy losses. On 18 November 2015, the brigade's full title was shortened to remove Soviet awards and honorifics, and it became the 24th Berdichev Iron Mechanized Brigade "Prince Daniel of Galicia". On 23 August 2017, the honorifics were changed, with the brigade dropping the remaining Soviet titles and becoming the 24th Mechanized Brigade "King Daniel of Galicia". In February 2016, soldiers of the brigade's 1st Battalion conducted training with American, Canadian and Lithuanian instructors in Lviv. In 2018 the brigade fought again in the war in Donbas and was stationed on the frontline near
Horlivka. As of December 2019, 152 soldiers of the brigade were killed during the war in Donbas.
Russian invasion of Ukraine From the start of the invasion the 24th Mechanized Brigade was involved in numerous engagements against the
Russian Army, the
Wagner Group, and the separatists of the
Donetsk People's Republic and the
Luhansk People's Republic such as the
battle of Lysychansk and the
battle of Donbas. Colonel Valery Hudz, the commander of the brigade, was killed in action in
Luhansk Oblast on 12 March 2022. The 24th Brigade held the defense of
Popasna in Luhansk Oblast until April 2022, at which point the Ukrainian military withdrew from the city. After Popasna, the brigade held the defense of
Zolote,
Sievierodonetsk and
Lysychansk. It was later sent to
Kherson Oblast to participate in the
Ukrainian counteroffensive there. It took part in the defense of
Soledar and
Bakhmut. As of January 2024, was stationed on the
Horlivka front in
Donetsk Oblast, where it took part in the defense of
Toretsk and
Niu-York. The brigade was transferred from Toretsk and Niu-York to take part in
the defense of
Chasiv Yar. ==Order of battle==