- Source: Vostok Brigade
The Vostok Brigade (Russian: Бригада «Восток») or 114th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (Russian: 114-я отдельная гвардейская мотострелковая бригада, 114 омсбр; Military Unit Number 08818) is a military unit of Russian Ground Forces. Until January 1, 2023, it was part of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). It is attached to the 51st Donetsk Combined Arms Army. The brigade was created and is commanded by Alexander Khodakovsky. According to an interview with The Washington Post, DPR president Denis Pushilin, the battalion was formed by local separatists and has nothing to do with the Chechen unit of the same name.
History
= War in Donbas
=The Vostok Battalion was formed in May 2014 by Alexander Khodakovsky, the former commander of Ukraine's Alpha special unit of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), who defected to the Donetsk People's Republic during the 2014 insurgency in Donbas. Towards the end of 2014 the battalion was first upgraded to a "Special Brigade" (Спецбригада), and then in 2015 changed again to the 11th Separate Enakievo-Danube Motor Rifle Regiment "Vostok" within DPR 1st Army Corps.
On 12 February 2016 the regiment was awarded the honorary designation "Guards".
On 3 November 2018 the regiment was awarded the order "For the Defense of Donetsk".
= Russian Invasion of Ukraine
=At some point, either in the fall of 2022, after the unit was replenished with mobilized soldiers, or in January 2023, during the entry of the 1st Army Corps into the Russian Armed Forces, the regiment was reformed into the 114th Brigade.
During the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Vostok Brigade was in charge of defending the village of Urozhaine which is on the border of the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. The village was described by The New York Times as a "stronghold" and an important part of the Russian defensive network on the Velyka Novosilka axis. Despite this, Russian media and Khodakovsky himself made it clear that the strategically important village would be solely defended by the Vostok Brigade against multiple units from the Ukrainian Marine Corps.
Fighting for the village began on 6 August 2023, and Khodakovsky announced that the Vostok Brigade would be withdrawing from the village on 15 August, stating that their defensive position had become untenable. Ukraine announced the liberation of the settlement on 16 August, and has been noted using artillery to shell retreating members of the Vostok Brigade resulting in high casualties among Khodakovsky's troops. On 17 February 2024 after the Battle of Avdiivka, the brigade was thanked by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Ukrainian analysts from DeepState noted the resilience of the brigade claiming that it was able to conduct assault operations for 8 full months straight without withering down. The analysts suggested that this is due to extensive "hidden mobilization" that was able to replenish casualties.
References
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Perang Rusia–Ukraina
- Pengepungan Mariupol
- Sievierodonetsk
- Angkatan Bersenjata Novorossiya
- Vostok Brigade
- Alexander Khodakovsky
- Combatants of the war in Donbas
- Russian separatist forces in Ukraine
- Pokrovsk offensive order of battle
- 114th Brigade
- Battles for Karlivka
- Foreign fighters in the Russo-Ukrainian War
- Donetsk People's Republic
- Second Battle of Donetsk Airport
