Previously the 8th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (not a mountain formation) was active in
Transdnestr after the deactivation of the
59th Guards Motor Rifle Division. It was formed on 1 June 1997 from that division, and disbanded on 1 November 2002. The current formation traces its history from a premiere tank regiment of the storied
2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division. In 2009 the
1st Guards Tank Regiment, descended from the 1st Guards Tank Brigade (
:ru:1-я гвардейская танковая бригада) formed in World War II, became the 8th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade. In August 2014 the brigade's units fought in the
Battle of Ilovaisk. On 26 August a column of mixed 8th Mountain Brigade and
31st Air Assault Brigade units was ambushed by a Ukrainian anti-tank artillery squad of the
51st Mechanized Brigade near Mnohopillya village. Three Russian armored vehicles were destroyed (2
MTLB-VMK's and a
MTLB-6M). A wounded soldier of 8th Mountain Brigade was captured: Aleksandr Desyatov. A wounded soldier of the 8th brigade was reported being sent to Kiev for medical treatment after his armor vehicle was destroyed in a fight. According to Sutyagin, 8th brigade's units fought in winter battles 2015 in Donbas. In 2016, the 2009 reform was partially reversed and the brigade became again the 1st Guards Tank Regiment. ==References==