World War II The
29th Rifle Division (2nd formation) was redesignated the 72nd Guards Rifle Division by Directorate of the
General Staff order No.104 on 1 March 1943. The units of the division were renumbered as follows: The 72nd Guards Rifle Division became a motor rifle division stationed in the
Kyiv Military District at
Bila Tserkva on 4 June 1957. It was part of the
1st Guards Army (Soviet Union). On 19 February 1962, the 280th Separate Equipment Maintenance and Recovery Battalion was activated. A missile battalions was also activated on the same day. In 1968, the 220th Separate Guards Sapper Battalion became an Engineer Sapper Battalion. In 1972, the 191st Separate Chemical Defence Company became the 23rd Separate Chemical Defence Battalion. The 1345th Separate Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion was activated on 15 November 1972. At some point between 1970 and 1980 the 1129th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment became the 1129th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment, equipped with
surface-to-air missiles. The motor transport battalion became the 892nd Separate Material Supply Battalion in 1980. In 1990, the division was equipped with 133
T-64 main battle tanks. During the Cold War, the division was maintained at 25% strength, with one full strength regiment.
Ukraine After the fall of the Soviet Union it was transferred to Ukraine. In 1992, Colonel Volodymyr Lytvyntsev – Commander 72nd Guards Motor Rifle Division of the
Kyiv Military District was given the rank of Major General. On August 23, 1995, Colonel Nikolai Nikolaevich Tsytsyursky, Commander 72nd Mechanized Infantry Division of the 1st Army Corps of the
Odesa Military District, was given the rank of Major-General. In accordance with a decree of August 23, 1998, division commander Colonel Grigoriy Pedchenko was promoted to major-general. On June 29, 1999, the 72nd Guards Mechanized Division of the Operational Command North of the
Armed Forces of Ukraine was given the honorary title of "Kyiv". It was reduced in size to a mechanized brigade in 2002. In May 2014 72nd Guards Mechanized Brigade was involved in the
Mariupol standoff during the
war in Donbas. During this conflict Ukrainian singers
Zlata Ognevich and
Anastasia Prikhodko raised money for the Brigade. The brigade defended Sector D near
Chervonopartyzansk,
Sverdlovsk and Diakove alongside the
51st Mechanized Brigade from July 2014. Separatist and Russian attacks resulted in the brigade being surrounded and cut off from supply by early August. The brigade's 1st Battalion and elements of the 51st Brigade, along with a group of border guards (about 400 total), destroyed their weapons and crossed into Russia. They were interned and returned to Ukrainian territory. Major Mykhailo Drapatyi's 2nd Battalion of the brigade near Chernopartyzhansk broke out of the encirclement, covered by the
30th Mechanized and
95th Airmobile Brigades from the south. Two soldiers from the 2nd Battalion were killed in the breakout. The convoy in which 195 soldiers of the brigade returned to Ukrainian territory after crossing into Russia on 4 August 2014 was fired on by separatists. On 18 November 2015 the brigade's honorific "Red Banner" was removed as part of an Armed Forces-wide removal of Soviet awards and honorifics. On 22 August 2016, its Guards title was removed. Its honorifics "Krasnohrad–Kyiv" were removed and replaced with the honorific
Black Zaporozhian in honor of the
Ukrainian People's Army Black Zaporizhian Cavalry Regiment on 23 August 2017.
Russian invasion of Ukraine Defense of Kyiv On the morning of 24 February 2022, the
Russian Armed Forces invaded Ukraine. The 72nd Mechanized Brigade was one of few maneuver formations defending Ukraine's capital,
Kyiv, to include a number of
special operations,
national guard, and hastily formed
Territorial Defense Forces which all told, formed an estimated 20,000 infantry force. of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade According to a publication by
The British Army Review, interviews with Ukrainian soldiers indicated that the 72nd Brigade was severely understrength on 24 February; an engineer battalion was meant to have 170 soldiers but only had 36. launched their attack on the Russian forces who lacked armour support but had
close air support in the form of at least two
Su-25's. As the operation progressed, more Ukrainian units from the
Georgian Legion and
Air Assault Forces joined the fight, denying Russia the ability to fly in troops via
Il-76. Ukrainian units surrounded the airport by the evening and forced the remaining Russian troops into nearby forests. Later, the 4th Rapid Reaction Brigade posted on their
Facebook an image of Ukrainian soldiers celebrating while holding a bullet-riddled flag inside
Hostomel Airport. Russian forces were reported to have shot civilians suspected in aiding the Ukrainian forces during the fighting. On 29 March, the
Russian Ministry of Defence ordered its forces in the
region to retreat and were later redeployed for the fighting in the east. On 1 April, the city's mayor claimed Ukrainian forces pushed the Russian forces out of Brovary.
Operations in eastern Ukraine The 72nd Brigade was deployed to eastern Ukraine after the successful defense of Kyiv. Throughout summer, the brigade participated in the Donbas offensive, namely the
Bakhmut area fighting in the battle of Bakhmut. Heavy fighting in the area resulted in substantial casualties to the brigade's professional soldiers causing many of their positions to be replaced by conscripts. The brigade's reconnaissance company was reduced from 128 men to 82 due to casualties. Sometime in August, the brigade was redeployed to
Pavlivka. The brigade assessed that 600 Russian troops and 30 armored vehicles entered their area of operation culminating in a battle in late October. Losses were heavy on both sides and the brigade eventually withdrew. In September 2024, the brigade was still defending Vuhledar. The deputy commander complained by then to war correspondents that his troops lacked
air defences and were "exhausted" because they had had zero rotations since February 2022. The commander Ivan Vinnik was promoted and transferred to a different position amidst a worsening condition for the brigade in Vuhledar. On 1 October 2024, the last surviving elements of the brigade withdrew from the city, which came under full control of the Russian army. In December of 2025, the 72nd brigade was fighting along the Russian forward positions near Vovchansk, in the Kharkiv area. A brigade ground drone evacuated a man who had held position for 275 days. In 2026 the Brigade's Bulava battalion, ranked as one of the most effective unmanned systems battalions in the Ukrainian Ground Forces, destroyed a TOS-1A Solntsepyok, a heavy flamethrower system on Russian territory. The weapon system was hit by four FPV drones which triggered an explosion of the thermobaric munitions.The brigade had tracked the weapon system for many days. ==Awards==