The 42nd Separate Mechanized Brigade (Ukrainian: 42 окрема механізована бригада) is a mechanized infantry brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.[1]
The brigade was formed on January 25, 2023, as part of the expansion of the Ukrainian Army in anticipation of the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive, primarily from personnel mobilized in western Ukraine and officers from the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade.[citation needed] The command was entrusted to Lieutenant Colonel Volodymyr Bolechan, former commander of the 109th Battalion of the 10th Brigade. It was the second Ukrainian unit, after the 82nd Air Assault Brigade, to receive Stryker armored vehicles.[citation needed] However, these were only equipped to one battalion, and the other two received the BMP-1LB, vehicles based on the MT-LB hull and equipped with a modern stabilized turret.
In September 2023 the brigade was deployed to the front for the first time, being sent together with the 44th Mechanized Brigade to the Kupiansk Raion to reinforce the Ukrainian defenses in the north.[citation needed] Starting from October it was deployed in the Andriivka area near Bakhmut.[citation needed] In the first months of 2024 they were part of the Ukrainian defense against the Russian winter offensive in the direction of Chasiv Yar.
The brigade was transferred to the Kharkiv region, on 9 May, providing support to the 125th Territorial Defense Brigade in repelling a Russian attacks near the village of Pylna[2] reportedly its "Perun" drone unit destroyed 4 Russian BMPs along with personnel near Pylna, Hlyboke and Lukiantsi.[3] Forced to give up ground in the following days, with the arrival of elements of the 92nd Assault Brigade it managed to stop the advancement of the 18th Motor Rifle Division by taking positions in the village of Lyptsi.[4] The drone operators of the unit fly 20 kilometers deep into Belgorod Oblast to destroy enemy targets.
As of 2024 the brigade's structure is as follows:
422nd Separate Rifle Battalion (A4850)[citation needed]
424th Rifle Battalion (А4856)
Unmanned Systems Battalion "Perun"
Medical Company
