The 123rd Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade named after the Hero of the Soviet Union Kliment Voroshilov (Russian: 123-я отдельная гвардейская мотострелковая бригада имени Героя Советского Союза Климента Ворошилова, 123 oмсбр; MUN 73438) is a military unit of Russian Ground Forces. Until January 1, 2023, it was part of the Luhansk People's Militia. It is attached to the 3rd Guards Combined Arms Army.
History
War in Donbas
The unit was first formed as the 2nd Motor Rifle Brigade on November 1, 2014. It was based on three early LPR battalions: "Zarya", which became the 1st Motor Rifle Battalion; "Don", which became the 2nd Motor Rifle Battalion; and "Hooligan", which became the 3rd.
Emblem of the Zarya battalion
"Zarya" ("Dawn") was originally formed in early 2014 as the 1st LNOB (Luhansk People's Liberation Battalion/Луганский Народно-освободительный батальон), part of the "Army of the South-East". It had been founded by Igor Plotnitsky, who later became the leader of the LPR, and as such, remained one of the LPR's most important battalions.
By mid-2015, the strength of the LPR 2nd Motor Rifle Brigade was thought to be around 4,500 personnel. Ukrainian analysts considered the LPR 2nd Motor Rifle Brigade to be one of the most powerful units in the DPR and LPR, partly owing to the fact that it consistently had the highest staffing level compared to other units.[1]
On November 1, 2015, Plotnitsky awarded the brigade the "Guards" status,[2] and on September 5, 2016, he named the brigade after the Hero of the Soviet Union Marshal Kliment Voroshilov.[3]
In January 2023, after the 2nd Army Corps was incorporated into the Russian Armed Forces, the brigade was renamed the 123rd Separate Motor Rifle Brigade.[4]
On July 17, 2023, brigade commander Denis "Tashkent" Ivanov was killed by a Ukrainian FPV drone.[5]
^ abCrowther, Edward; Crowther, Edward R. (2023). Armed formations of the Luhansk People's Republic 2014-2022. War in Ukraine / Edward Crowther. Warwick: Helion & Company Limited. pp. 29–31. ISBN978-1-80451-217-3.
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