Red Army The 128th Mechanized Division was first formed within the then
USSR's
Red Army as the 1st Turkmenistan Rifle Division on 12 July 1922 in the city of
Poltoratsk (now Ashgabat,
Turkmenistan). (Other sources give the original name as the 1st Turkmenistan Mountain Division). It was a Turkmen national formation. Serhiy Tumoshkov became the division's first commander. The division was renamed 83rd Mountain Rifle Division on 1 July 1935. On 22 June 1941 the 83rd Mountain Rifle Division was part of the 58th Rifle Corps,
Central Asia Military District. Between 1 September and 1 October 1941, the division was assigned to the
53rd Army, still located within the Central Asia Military District. By January 1942 the division, still with 58th Rifle Corps, had been dispatched to
Iran as part of the
Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran. From 1 January 1943 the division fought near the area of
Krasnodar where it was assigned to the
56th Army. After successfully liberating the region of
Kuban and the
Taman Peninsula, the division was awarded the
Guards designation on 8 October 1943 and renamed the 128th Guards Turkmenistan Rifle Division. In May 1976, it was granted the honorific title "Marshal of the Soviet Union
Andriy Hrechko". In December 1979, its 149th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment was transferred to the
201st Motor Rifle Division and replaced by the newly activated 487th Motor Rifle Regiment. On 8 May 1985 the division was awarded its second
Order of the Red Banner in honour of the 40th anniversary of
Victory Day.
Independent Ukraine In January 1992, the division was taken over by Ukraine. On 31 December 1992, in Decree 642/92, the President of Ukraine promoted the commander of the 128th Guards Motor Rifle Division of the Carpathian Military District, Colonel , to Major-General. In accordance with a decree of 23 August 1998, Colonel
Oleksandr Maslenchuk – commander of the 128th Mechanised Division of the
38th Army Corps of the
Operational Command West; was promoted to major-general. On 27 May 2000 the
Minister of Defense,
General of the Army Oleksandr Kuzmuk presented the division its new Battle Colours, and read the Order of the President of Ukraine awarding the division the honorable name "Zakarpattia". After the 38th Army Corps was disbanded, the division became part of the 13th Corps. On 18 June 2004 the 128th Guards Motor Rifle Division was reorganized into a brigade by the order of the Minister of Defense. The "Zakarpattia" battle honor, awarded for the liberation of the area in 1945, remained. On 22 August 2016, its Guards title was also removed.
Russian invasion of Ukraine A base belonging to the 128th Brigade was bombarded as part of the initial Russian strikes on military targets on
24 February 2022. The brigade abandoned its base and was deployed to the vicinity of
Melitopol. It was eventually pushed 70 miles to the north, where it took up positions to prevent Russian forces from reaching the city of
Zaporizhzhia, as of April 2022. A
battalion tactical group of the 128th Brigade under Col. was at training grounds in
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast at the beginning of the war. It traveled 200 km in order to reach
Melitopol by the next day, covering the retreat of units of the
National Guard of Ukraine from the city. It later withdrew to the
Vasylivka-
Tokmak defensive line, and eventually to a defensive line at
Kam'yanske-
Orikhiv where it successfully halted the Russian offensive. The brigade took part in the
2022 Ukrainian southern counteroffensive. In the brigade's native
Zakarpattia Oblast on 2 September 2022, a
day of mourning was held after the deaths of seven residents of the region who served in the brigade. During the southern counteroffensive, the brigade recaptured
Myroliubivka on 3 October 2022, This was part of
an October offensive operation conducted by one of the 128th Brigade's battalions, along with a battalion of Ukraine's
60th Brigade, which forced Russian troops to retreat from parts of the
Kherson Oblast west of the
Dnieper River towards the villages of
Dudchany and
Mylove. On 18 February 2023
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the brigade was operating and fighting in
Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Lysiuk, the brigade's commander, confirmed to
The Guardian in mid-October 2023 that the brigade was still fighting in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. On 3 November 2023 a Russian strike killed members of the brigade while on a ceremony on the occasion of Rocket Forces and Artillery Day, on 5 November
Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Kucherenko reported that 28 soldiers had been killed and 53 others wounded. Three days of mourning were held in Zakarpattia Oblast.{{cite web |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/11/5/7427335/ == Structure ==