406th Marine Artillery Brigade (Ukraine)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

406th Marine Artillery Brigade (Ukraine)

The 406th Artillery Brigade, named after Oleksa Almazov, is a unit of the Ukrainian Marine Corps based in Mykolaiv. It has a long history that began in 1976 as the 301st Artillery Brigade in Zaporizhzhia and went through several name changes over the years.

Key history in simple terms:
- 1976: Founded as the 301st Artillery Brigade in Zaporizhzhia, part of the Soviet Armed Forces.
- 1983–1993: Moved to Simferopol and later became part of the Black Sea Fleet.
- 1993: After Ukraine’s independence, joined the Ukrainian military’s 32nd Army Corps in the Odessa Military District.
- 2001: Reorganized as the 406th Artillery Regiment.
- 2003: Became the 406th Separate Brigade Artillery Group.
- 2006: Renamed the 406th Separate Coastal Artillery Group.
- 2011: Reappeared as the 406th Separate Simferopol Coastal Artillery Group.

Crimea crisis and transfer:
- 2014: During the Russian invasion of Crimea, Russian forces surrounded the brigade. Some officers defected to Russia, including the unit’s commander. In April 2015, the brigade was moved to Mykolaiv.

Further reorganizations and honors:
- 2016: The 32nd Rocket Artillery Regiment split from the brigade. The brigade also received a combat flag.
- 2018: It was awarded the honorary title “Corporal General Oleksiy Almazov.”
- 2019: The brigade fought in Granitny and faced anti-tank missiles that killed one soldier.
- 2022: It took part in the Kharkiv counteroffensive and the Battle of Davydiv Brid, carrying out precise strikes against Russian positions and earning praise.

Contemporary note:
- January 2026: A Moscow court publicly claimed that the Russian cruiser Moskva was sunk by a Ukrainian missile and named the brigade’s former commander, Andrii Shubin, in the case. The court reported casualties (20 crew killed, 24 injured, 8 missing) and sought damages, alleging Shubin gave the orders for the strike.