The Kalmius Battalion was established in
Donetsk on June 21, 2014 as a special purpose battalion. Former miners constituted the core of the battalion, original strength being about five hundred people. Major general Valentin Motuzenko was the founder of the unit. On 26–27 June, 2014 soldiers of the battalion stormed a
Ukrainian National Guard base №3004 in Donetsk and captured several Ukrainian troops including the battalion commander. Later in 2014 it took part in the battles around the memorial hill of
Savur-Mohyla and the nearby city of
Snizhne. In October 2014, the unit was reorganised as a separate artillery brigade, and re-equipment began accordingly. Alexandr Nemogai was its commander until his death on May 8, 2016. The unit was deployed to the cities of Snizhne and Shakhtarsk. and was later sanctioned by the governments of
Norway and
Switzerland. Notable among Kalmius’s officers was
Eduard Basurin, who after serving in the brigade as a
political commissar became Deputy Defence Minister of the DPR. On January 1, 2023, the Kalmius brigade was incorporated into the
Russian Armed Forces as the 14th Separate Artillery Brigade "Kalmius" as part of the 1st Army Corps, which was later reorganised into the
51st Combined Arms Army. ==Organization==